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Daniel and the Revelation 



The Response of History to 
the Voice of Prophecy 

A Verse by Verse Study of these 
Important Books of the Bible 



By Uriah Smith 

Author of "Here and Hereafter," "Looking Unto Jesus," "The 
Marvel of Nations," "Synopsis of Present Truth," and 
other works on Bible subjects. 




Southern Publishing Association 

Nashville, Tennessee 
Fort Worth, Texas Hickory, N. C. New Orleans, La. 



3 s 



fuSRARY of CONGRFsS 
Two Coole* Received 

AUf 15 190? 

•epynirM Ertry 
CLASS 'XXC., No. 
COPY tt. 



,5^ 

,^0 1 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1897, 
By URIAH SMITH, 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 

Also Entered at Stationers' Hall, London, England. 

Copyright, 1907, by Mrs, Uriah Smith. 




1. With Enoch, the seventh from Adam, and for three hundred 
and eight years contemporary witiuAdam, the voice of prophecy be- 
gan to be heard through human lips. For so the apostle Jude de- 
clares : "And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, 
saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, 
to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly 
among them, of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly 
committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners 
have spoken against him." Jude 14, 15. This sublime and earliest 
prophecy reaches to the end of time. And through all the interven- 
ing ages, other prophecies have covered all the more important events 
in the great drama of history. 

2. The coming to pass of these great events has been but the re- 
sponse of history to what the prophecies had declared. And thus 
amid the ever-present evidences of the short-sightedness of men, and 
the ever-recurring failures of human schemes, a voice has continually 
gone up from earth to heaven, " The word of the Lord endureth 
forever." 

3. It is for the purpose of calling attention to some of these im- 
portant prophetico-historical lessons, if we may be permitted to coin 
a word, that this volume is written. And the books of Daniel and the 
Revelation are chosen for this purpose, because in some respects their 
prophecies are more direct than are to be found elsewhere upon the 
prophetic page, and the fulfilments more striking. The object before 
us is threefold: (1) To gain an understanding of the wonderful testi- 
mony of the books themselves; (2) To acquaint ourselves with some 
of the more interesting and important events in the history of civi- 
lized nations, and mark how accurately the prophecies, some of them 
depending upon the developments of the then far-distant future, and 
upon conditions the most minute and complicated, have been fulfilled 
in these events; and (3) To draw from these things important lessons 
relative to practical Christian duties, which were not given for past 
ages merely, but are for the learning and admonition of the world 
to-day. 

4. The books of Daniel and the Revelation are counterparts of 
each other. They naturally stand side by side, and should be studied 
together. 

(3) 



4 



P BE FACE 



5. We are aware that any attempt to explain these books and 
make an application of their prophecies, is generally looked upon as a 
futile and fanatical task, and is sometimes met even with open hostil- 
ity. It is much to be regretted that any portions of that volume 
which all Christians believe to be the book wherein God has under- 
taken to reveal his will to mankind, should come to be regarded in 
such a light. But a great fact, to which the reader's attention is 
called in the following paragraph, is believed to contain for this state 
of things both an explanation and an antidote. 

6. There are two general systems of interpretation adopted by 
different expositors in their efforts to explain the sacred Scriptures. 
The first is the mystical or spiritualizing system invented by Origen, 
to the shame of sound criticism and the curse of Christendom; the 
second is the system of literal interpretation, used by such men as 
Tyndale, Luther, and all the Reformers, and furnishing the basis for 
every advance step which has thus far been made in the reformation 
from error to truth as taught in the Scriptures. According to the 
first system, every declaration is supposed to have a mystical or hid- 
den sense, which it is the province of the interpreter to bring forth; 
by the second, every declaration is to be taken in its most obvious and 
literal sense, except where the context and the well-known laws of 
language show that the terms are figurative, and not literal ; and what- 
ever is figurative must be explained by other portions of the Bible 
which are literal. 

7. By the mystical method of Origen, it is vain to hope for any 
uniform understanding of either Daniel or the Revelation, or of any 
other book of the Bible ; for that system (if it can be called a system) 
knows no law but the uncurbed imagination of its adherents; hence 
there are on its side as many different interpretations of Scripture as 
there are different fancies of different writers. By the literal method, 
everything is subject to well-established and clearly-defined law; and, 
viewed from this standpoint, the reader will be surprised to see how 
simple, easy, and clear many portions of the Scriptures at once be- 
come, which, according to any other system, are dark and unsolvable. 
It is admitted that many figures are used in the Bible, and that much 
of the books under consideration, especially that of the Revelation, 
is clothed in symbolic language; but it is also claimed that the Scrip- 
tures introduce no figure which they do not somewhere furnish literal 
language to explain. This volume is offered as a consistent exposi- 
tion of the books of Daniel and the Revelation according to the literal 
system. 

8. The study of prophecy should by no means be neglected; for 
it is the prophetic portions of the word of God which especially con- 
stitute it a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. So both David 
and Peter unequivocally testify. Ps. 119:105; 2 Peter 1:19. 

9. No sublimer study can occupy the mind than the study of those 
books in which He who sees the end from the beginning, looking for- 
ward through all the ages, gives, through his inspired prophets, a de- 
scription of coming events for the benefit of those whose lot it would 
be to meet them. 



PREFACE 



5 



10. An increase of knowledge respecting- the prophetic portions of 
the word of God was to be one of the characteristics of the last days. 
Said the angel to Daniel, " But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, 
and seal the book, even to the time of the end : many shall run to and 
fro, and knowledge shall be increased ; " or, as Michaelis's translation 
reads : " When many shall give their sedulous attention to the under- 
standing of these things, and knowledge shall be increased." It is 
our lot to live this side the time to which the angel told Daniel to thus 
shut up the words and seal the book. That restriction has now ex- 
pired by limitation. In the language of the figure, the seal has been 
removed, and many are running to and fro, and knowledge has mar- 
velously increased in every department of science; yet it is evident 
that this prophecy specially contemplates an increase of knowledge 
concerning those prophecies that are designed to give us light in refer- 
ence to the age in which we live, the close of this "dispensation, and 
the soon-coming transfer of all earthly governments to the great King 
of Righteousness, who shall destroy his enemies, and crown with an 
infinite reward every one of his friends. The fulfilment of the proph- 
ecy in the increase of this knowledge, is one of the pleasing signs 
of the present time. For more than half a century, light upon the 
prophetic word has been increasing, and shining with ever-growing 
luster to our own day. 

11. In no portion of the word of God is this more apparent than 
in the books of Daniel and the Revelation ; and we may well congratu- 
late ourselves on this, for no other parts of that word deal so largely 
in prophecies that pertain to the closing scenes of this world's history.' 
No other books contain so many chains of prophecy reaching down to 
the end. In no other books is the grand procession of events that 
leads us through to the termination of probationary time, and ushers 
us into the realities of the eternal state, so fully and minutely set 
forth. No other books embrace so completely, as it were in one grand 
sweep, all the truths that concern the last generation of the inhabit- 
ants of the earth, and set forth so comprehensively all the aspects of 
the times, physical, moral, and political, in which the triumphs of 
earthly woe and wickedness shall end, and the eternal reign of right- 
eousness begin. We take pleasure in calling attention especially to 
these features of the books of Daniel and the Revelation, which seem 
heretofore to have been too generally overlooked or misinterpreted. 

12. There seems to be no prophecy which a person can have so lit- 
tle excuse for misunderstanding as the prophecy of Daniel, especially 
as relates to its main features. Dealing but sparingly in language 
that is highly figurative, explaining all the symbols it introduces, 
locating its events within the rigid confines of prophetic periods, it 
points out the first advent of the Messiah in so clear and unmistakable 
a manner as to call forth the execration of the J ews upon any attempt 
to explain it, and gives so accurately, and so many ages in advance, 
the outlines of the great events of our world's history, that infidelity 
stands confounded and dumb before its inspired record. 

13. And no effort to arrive at a correct understanding of the 
book of the Revelation needs any apology; for the Lord of prophecy 



6 



PREFACE 



has himself pronounced a blessing upon him that readeth and they 
that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep the things that are 
written therein; for the time is at hand. Rev. 1:1-3. And it is 
with an honest purpose of aiding somewhat in arriving at this under- 
standing, which is set forth by the language above referred to as not 
only possible but praiseworthy, that an exposition of this book, ac- 
cording to the literal rule of interpretation, has been attempted. 

11. With thrilling interest we behold to-day the nations marshal- 
ing their forces, and pressing forward in the very movements de- 
scribed by the royal seer in the court of Babylon twenty-five hundred 
years ago, and by John on Patmos eighteen hundred years ago; and 
these movements — hear it, ye children of men — are the last political 
revolutions to be accomplished before this earth plunges into her final 
time of trouble, and Michael, the great Prince, stands up, and his peo- 
ple, all who are found written in the book, are crowned with full and 
final deliverance. Dan. 12 : 1, 2. 

15. Are these things so ? " Seek," says our Saviour, " and ye 
shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." God has not 
so concealed his truth that it will elude the search of the humble 
seeker. 

With a prayer that the same Spirit by which those portions of 
Scripture which form the basis of this volume were at first inspired, 
and whose aid the writer has sought in his expository efforts, may rest 
abundantly upon the reader in his investigations, according to the 
promise of the Saviour in John 16 : 7, 13, 15, this work is commended 
to the candid and careful attention of all who are interested in 
prophetic themes. U. S. 

Battle Creek, Mich., 
January, 1897. 




^be Book of £>aniel 

CHAPTER I 

Daniel in Captivity - - - ' - -23 

Characteristics of the Sacred Writings — Five Historical 
Facts — Prophecy of Jerusalem's Captivity — The Holy City . 
Three Times Overthrown — God's Testimony against Sin — 
Condition and Treatment of Daniel and His Companions — 
Character of King Nebuchadnezzar — Signification of Pagan 
Names — Daniel's Integrity — The Result of His Experiment 
— < Daniel Lives till the Time of Cyrus. 

CHAPTER II 

The Great Image - - - - - 33 

A Difficulty Explained — Daniel Enters upon His Work — 
Who AVere the Magicians ? — Trouble between the King and 
the Wise Men — The Ingenuity of the Magicians — The 
King's Sentence against Them — Remarkable Providence of 
God — The Help Sought by Daniel — A Good Example — 
Daniel's Magnanimity — A Natural Character — The Magi- 
cians Exposed — What the World Owes to the People of God 

— Appropriateness of the Symbol — A Sublime Chapter of 
Human History — Beginning of the Babylonian Kingdom 

— What is Meant by a Universal Kingdom — Description of 
Babylon — The Heavenly City — Babylon's Fall — Stratagem 
of Cyrus — Belshazzar's Impious Feast — Prophecy Fulfilled 
- — Babylon Reduced to Heaps — The Second Kingdom, Medo- 
Persia — Persian Kings, and Time of Their Reign — Per- 
sia's Last King — Alexander the Great — His Contemptible 
Character — The Fourth Kingdom — The Testimony of Gib- 

(7) 



8 



CONTENTS 



bon — Influences which Undermined Rome — A False Theory- 
Examined — What the Toes Signify — Rome Divided — 
Names of the Ten Divisions — Subsequent History — ■ God's 
Kingdom Still Future — Its Nature, Location, and Extent. 

CHAPTER III 

The Fiery Ordeal - - - - - 92 

Nebuchadnezzar's Image vs. God's — Devotion of Idolaters — 
The Jews Accused — The King's Forbearance — The Fiery- 
Furnace — Its Effect on the Chaldeans — The Course of the 
Three Worthies — The Wonderful Deliverance — Its Effect 
on the King's Mind — Integrity Honored. 

CHAPTER IV 

Nebuchadnezzar's Decree - - - • - 103 

The Oldest Decree on Record — Humiliation Confessed — A 
Good Example — Nebuchadnezzar's Condition — God's Deal- 
ing with the King — The Magicians Humbled — A Remark- 
able Illustration — Mercy in Judgment — An Important Key 
to Prophetic Interpretation — Angels Interested in Human 
Affairs — The King's Acknowledgment — Daniel's Hesitation 
— ■ His Delicate Answer to the King — Judgments Condi- 
tional—The Lesson Unheeded — The Blow Falls — The 
King's Restoration — The End Gained — Nebuchadnezzar's 
Death — Summary of His Experience. 

CHAPTER V 

Belshazzar's Feast - - - - - 114 

Closing Scenes of Babylon's History — Celebration of the 
Conquest of Judea — The Sacred Vessels Desecrated — God 
Interferes with the Revelry — The Phantom Hand — Change 
of Scene — Daniel Called — The Lesson to the King — The 
Writing Interpreted — The Fulfilment Follows — Edwin Ar- 
nold's Prize Poem. 

CHAPTER VI 

Daniel in the Lions' Den - 128 
Date of the Persian Kingdom — Cyrus Sole Ruler — Paul's 
Reference to Daniel's Experience — Extent of the Persian 
Kingdom — A Fiendish Plot — Righteousness Daniel's only 
Fault — False Witness of the Conspirators — Daniel Undis- 
turbed — The Decree Secured — The Victim Ensnared — The 
King's Dilemma — Daniel Cast into the Lions' Den — His 



CONTENTS 



9 



Wonderful Preservation — Fate of Daniel's Accusers — Dan- 
iel Doubly Vindicated — The King's Decree. 

CHAPTEK VII 

The Pour Beasts - - - - - - 139 

Chronological Connection — Eule of Scripture Interpreta- 
tion — ■ Signification of the Symbols — The Kingdoms Iden- 
tical with Those of Daniel 2 — Why the Vision is Repeated 

— Change in Babylonish History — Deterioration of Earthly 
Governments — The Symbol of the Bear Explained — Grecia 
the Third Kingdom — Rapidity of Its Conquests — Testi- 
mony of Rollin — ■ Signification of the Four Heads of the 
Leopard Beast — The Nondescript — Signification of the Ten 
Horns — 'A- Little Plorn among the 'Ten — The Judgment 
Scene — A Temporal Millennium Impossible — Character of 
the Little Horn — Gradual Development of the Romish 
Church — Opposition of the Arians — The Three Horns 
Plucked Up — Millions of Martyrs — A Peeble Defense' — 
Paganism Outdone — Meaning of Time, Times, and a Half 
— 'Date of Papal Supremacy — Date of Papal Overthrow — 
Rome a Republic — The Power of the Papacy Waning in Its 
Stronghold — A Later Judgment — The Ecumenical Coun- 
cil — Victor Emmanuel's United Italy — End of the Pope's 
Temporal Power — Its Coming Destruction. 

CHAPTER VIII 
Vision of the Ram, He-Goat, and Little Horn - - 188 

Change from Chaldaic to Hebrew — Date of Belshazzar's 
Reign — Date of This Vision — Where was Shushan ? — A 
Prophecy of Isaiah Fulfilled — The Angel Explains the Sym- 
bols — How the Goat Represents the Grecians — Alexander 
the Great — Battle at the River Granicus — Battle at the 
Passes of Issus — The Great Battle of Arbela — Subversion 
of the Persian Kingdom, b. c. 331 — Alexander's Famous Re- 
ply to Darius — The World Will not Permit Two Suns nor 
Two Sovereigns — Increase of Power — Alexander's Disgrace- 
ful Death — Division of the Kingdom — The Roman Horn 
— 'How It Came out of One of the Horns of the Goat — 
Antlochus Epiphanes not This Horn — Rome the Power Sym- 
bolized by the Little Horn — What is the "Daily"? — Two 
Desolating Powers Brought to View — When Oppression of 
the Saints Will End — The 2300 Days not Here Explained 

— The Sanctuary Explained — What the Cleansing of the 
Sanctuary Is — The King of Fierce Countenance — By 



10 



CONTENTS 



What Means the Romans Prospered — The Explanation not 
Finished — The Reason Why. 

CHAPTER IX 

The Seventy Weeks - - - • - 233 

The Short Time between the Visions — Daniel's Understand- 
ing of Jeremiah's Prophecy — Daniel's Wonderful Prayer — 
Gabriel again Appears — Vision of Chapter 8 Explained — 
Connection between Chapters- Eight and Nine Established — 
The Time Explained — The Seventy Weeks — The Meaning 
of " Cut Off " — Testimony of Dr. Hales — Date of the Sev- 
enty Weeks — The Decree of Cyrus — The Decree of Darius 
— -The Decree of Artaxerxes — The Year 457 before Christ 
— 'Date of Christ's Baptism — Date of Christ's Crucifixion 
— Invention of the Christian Era — Intermediate Dates — 
Harmony Established — The Genuine Reading — Ptolemy's 
Canon — The End of the 2300 Days. 

CHAPTER X 

Daniel's Last Vision - - - - 270 

Time of Daniel's Various Visions — How Cyrus Became Sole 
Monarch — Daniel's Purpose in Seeking God — Scriptural 
Easting — Another Appearance of the Angel Gabriel — The 
Effect upon Daniel — Daniel's Age at This Time — The An- 
swer to Prayer Sometimes not Immediately Apparent — Who 
Michael Is — Daniel's Solicitude for His People — The Re- 
lation of Christ and Gabriel to the King of Persia and the 
Prophet Daniel. 

CHAPTER XI 

A Literal Prophecy - - - - - 279 

Succession of Kings in Persia — The Rich King — The Larg- 
est Army ever Assembled in the World — Meaning of the 
Phrase " Stand Lip " — Alexander in Eclipse — His Kingdom 
Divided among His Four Leading Generals — Location of the 
King of the North and the King of the South — Macedon 
and Thrace Annexed to Syria — The Syrian Kingdom 
Stronger than the Kingdom of Egypt — Divorce and Mar- 
riage of Antiochus Theos — Laodice's Revenge — Berenice 
and Her Attendants Murdered — Ptolemy Euergetes Avenges 
the Death of His Sister — Syria Plundered — 2,500 Idols 
Carried to Egypt — Antiochus Magnus Avenges the Cause of 
His Father — Defeated by the Egyptians — Ptolemy Over- 



CONTENTS 



11 



come by His Vices — Another Syrian Campaign against Egypt 

— New Complications — Rome Introduced — Syria and Mac- 
edonia Forced to Retire — Rome Assumes the Guardianship 
of the Egyptian King — The Egyptians Defeated — Antio- 
chus Falls before the Romans — Syria Made a Roman Prov- 
ince — Judea Conquered by Pompey — Caesar in Egypt — 
Exciting Scenes — Cleopatra's Stratagem — Caesar Triumph- 
ant — Veni, Yidi, Vici — Caesar's Death — Augustus Caesar 
— ■ The Triumvirate — The Augustan Age of Rome — The 
Birth of Our Lord — Tiberius, the Vile — Date of Christ's 
Baptism — Rome's League with the Jews — Caesar and An- 
tony — The Battle of Actium — Final Overthrow of Jerusa- 
lem — What is Meant by Chittim — The Vandal "War — The 
" Daily " Taken Away — Justinian's Famous Decree — The 
Goths Driven from Rome — Long Triumph of the Papacy — 
The Atheistical King — The French Revolution of 1793 — 
The Bishop of Paris Declares Himself an Atheist — France 
as a Nation Rebels against the Author of the Universe — The 
Marriage Covenant Annulled — God Decleared a Phantom, 
Christ an Impostor — Blasphemy of a Priest of Illuminism 
— -A Dissolute Female the Goddess of Reason — Titles of 
Nobility Abolished — Their Estates Confiscated — The Land 
Divided for Gain — Termination of the Reign of Terror — 
Time of the End, 1798 — Triple War between Egypt, France, 
and Turkey — Napoleon's Dream of Eastern Glory — He 
Diverts the War from England to Egypt — His Ambition 
Embraces all Historical Lands of the East — Downf all of the 
Papacy — Embarkation from Toulon — Alexandria Taken — 
Battle of the Pyramids — The Combat Deepens — -Turkey, 
the King of the North, Declares War against France — Na- 
poleon's Campaign in the Holy Land — Beaten at Acre — Re- 
tires to Egypt — Called back to France — Egypt in the Power 
of Turkey — Tidings out of the East and North — The Cri- 
mean War of 1853 — Predicted by Dr. Clarke from this 
Prophecy in 1825 — The Sick Man of the East — The East- 
ern Question; What is It? — Russia's Long- Cherished Dream 

— The Last Will and Testament of Peter the Great — Start- 
ling Facts in Russian History — The Prophecy of Napoleon 
Bonaparte — Kossuth's Prediction — Russia's Defiant Atti- 
tude in 1870 — The Russo-Turkish War of 1877 — The Berlin 
Congress — Turkey Bankrupt — The Whole Empire Mort- 
gaged to the Czar — Wonderful Shrinkage of Turkish Terri- 
tory — The Wonder of Statesmen — The Eastern Question 
in the Future. 



12 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER XII 
Closing Scenes - - - - * - < 

The Reign of Christ — The Grand Signal of Its Approach 
— ■ What Events are Next in Order — The Time of Trouble 
— ■ The Kesurrection — The Key to the Euture — Some to 
Life, Some to Shame — Promised Rewards of the Coming 
Day — The Sealed Book Opened — Knowledge Wonderfully 
Increased — The Progress of a Thousand Years Made in 
Eifty — The Wise Understand — Daniel Stands in His Lot. 



XLhc Book of IRevelatfon 

CHAPTER I 

The Opening Vision - - - - 399 

The Title and Character of the Book — Its Object — Christ's 
Angel — His Benediction — The Churches in Asia — The 
Seven Spirits — Prince of the Kings of the Earth — His 
Coming Visible — The Church's Response — John's Experi- 
ence — The Cause of Banishment — In the Spirit — The 
Lord's Day — Alpha and Omega — The Revelation to be Un- 
derstood. 

CHAPTER II 

The Seven Churches - 422 

The Church of Ephesus — Definition — The Cause of Com- 
plaint — The Nicolaitanes — The Promise to the Victor — 
The Tree of Life — The Church in Smyrna — Tribulation 
Ten Days — The Overcomer's Reward — The Church in 
Pergamos — Satan's Seat — Antipas — The Cause of Cen- 
sure — The Promise — The New Name — Thyatira — The 
Woman Jezebel. 

CHAPTER III 

The Seven Churches. — Continued - 442 
Sardis, Definition of — "White Raiment — The Book of Life 
— Philadelphia Defined — The Key of David — Signification 
of Laodicea — Neither Cold nor Hot — The Counsel — The 
Einal Promise. 



CONTENTS 



13 



CHAPTER IY 

New Vision. — The Heavenly Sanctuary - - - 463 
Four and Twenty Elders — Seven Lamps of Fire — The Sea 
of Glass — The Happy Unrest. 

CHAPTER V 

The Heavenly Sanctuary. — Continued - - 470 

The Book — The Angelic Challenge — Christ Prevails — The 
Anticipation — ■ A Clean Universe. 



CHAPTER YI 

The Seven Seals ------ 481 

Symbols Explained — Souls under the Altar — The Great 
Earthquake at Lisbon — Darkening of the Sun and Moon — 
Falling of the Stars — An Objection Answered — The Great 
Prayer-Meeting. 



CHAPTER YII 

The Sealing - - - - - 520 

Symbols Explained — The Seal of God — The 144,000 — The 
True Israel — The New Jerusalem a Christian City — Out 
of the Great Tribulation. 



CHAPTER VIII 
The Seven Trumpets - - - - 537 

Encouragement for Christians — Complement of Daniel's 
Prophecy — Testimony of Standard tlistorians — Rome Di- 
vided — The Western Empire Extinguished — Alaric, Gen- 
seric, Attila, and Theodoric. 

CHAPTER IX 

The Seven Trumpets. — Continued - 561 
Rome and Persia — Chosroes Overthrown — The Rise of 
Mohammedanism — The Bottomless Pit — The Five Months' 
Torment — An Established Date — Surrender to the Turks — 
Constantinople Taken — The Use of Firearms Foretold — 
Cessation of the Ottoman Supremacy — A Remarkable Proph- 
ecy Fulfilled. 



CHAPTER X 

Proclamation of the Advent - 588 

The Book Opened — The Time of the End — Close of the 



14 



CONTENTS 



Prophetic Periods — Sounding of the Seventh Trumpet — 
The Sweet and the Bitter. 

CHAPTER XI 

The Two Witnesses - 601 

An Important Message — The French Revolution of 1793 — 
Spiritual Sodom — Crush the Wretch! — The Bible Tri- 
umphant — The Nations Angry — God's Temple in Heaven 
Opened. 

CHAPTER XII 

The Gospel Church - 619 

A Wonderful Scene in Heaven — Definite Data — Satan De- 
feated — ■ The Trial of the Church — The Coming Joy. 

CHAPTER XIII 
Persecuting Powers Professedly Christian - - 636 

A Change of Symbols ■ — The Papacy — Comparison with the 
Little Horn of Daniel 7 — Deadly Wound — How It was 
Healed — Another Beast — The United States in Prophecy 

— Wonderful Growth of Our Country — "A Place for Every- 
thing, and Everything in Its Place " — The Coming Crisis 

— The Path of Safety — The Beginning of the End — The 
Number of His Name. 

CHAPTER XIV 
The Three Messages - - 705 
A Glorious Culmination — -The 144,000 — The Proclamation 
of the Advent — A Moral Fall — The Severest Denunciation 
of Wrath in All the Bible — The Commandments of God — 
A Blessing on the Dead — Wickedness Swallowed Up. 

CHAPTER XV 

The Seven Last Plagues - - 764 

Preparation for the Plagues — An Impressive Scene — God's 
J udgments Righteous — Mercy Withdrawn from the Eearth 
The Sea of Glass — The Glorious Victory — Well with the 
Righteous. 

CHAPTER XVI 
The Plagues Poured Out - 767 

The Plagues of Egypt — Death in the Sea — Fountains of 
Blood — A Scorching Sun — Egyptian Darkness — Decay of 
Turkey — The Eastern Question — Spirits of Devils — The 



CONTENTS 



15 



Battle of Armageddon — The Air Infected — Babylon Judged 

— Terrific Effects of the Great Hail — Close of the Scene. 

CHAPTER XVII 
Babylon — the Mother - - - - - 787 

Church and State — Different Forms of Roman Government 

— The Eighth Head — Waning Away of Papal Power — 
Symbolic Waters. 

CHAPTER XVIII 
Babylon — the Daughters - - - - 795 

Popery beyond Reformation — Its Influence still Felt — 
Apostate Christendom — Separation between the Good and 
the Bad — Amazing Judgments — The Will for the Deed. 

CHAPTER XIX 
Triumph of the Saints - 813 

The Marriage of the Lamb — The Bride the Lamb's Wife — 
The Marriage Supper — Heaven Opened — A Startling Con- 
trast — The Beast Taken — The Lake of Fire. 

CHAPTER XX 

The First and Second Resurrections' - 820 
The Bottomless Pit — Binding of Satan — Exaltation of the 
Saints — The Second Resurrection — The Second Lake of 
Fire — The Sentence Executed. 

CHAPTER XXI 
The New Jerusalem ------ 837 

The New Heaven and Earth — The Holy City — Wonderful 
Dimensions — Precious Stones — The Rainbow Foundations 

— No Need of the Sun. 

CHAPTER XXn 
The Tree and the River of Life - - - 855 
The Home of Peace — The Tree of Life — John's Emotions 

— Without the City — ■ The Gracious Invitation — " Through 
the Gates " — The Lord's Promise — The Church's Response 

— God All in All. 

Appendix - - - - - - 871 

Index of Author.i - - - - - - 887 

Index of Texts ------- 890 

General Index - - - - - - 895 




Portrait of Author - - - - - Frontispiece' 

Siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar ----- 25 

Daniel and His Fellows are Sought to be Slain - - 38 

The Great World-Kingdom Image, Dan. 2 : 31 - 34 - - - 45 

A Babylonian Palace - 52 

Babylon Taken by the Medo-Persians 58 

Alexander Removing the Ruins at Babylon - - - 61 

Alexander Commanding the Conflagration of Persepolis* - 67 
Map Showing Territory Covered by the Four Universal 

Kingdoms -. - - - - - - - 80 v 

The Three Worthies Refusing to Bow to the Image - - 93 * 

The Three Hebrews in the Fiery Furnace - - - 98 

The Humiliation of Nebuchadnezzar - 108 

Belshazzar's Feast 118 

Daniel in the Den of Lions - - 132 

The Lion — Symbol of Babylon - 138 * 

The Bear — Symbol of Medo-Persia 142 

The Leopard — ■ Symbol of Grecia - - - - - 145 

The Fourth Beast — Symbol of Rome . - - - 148 

The Little Horn — Symbol of the Papacy - 151 

Waldenses Fleeing from Papal Persecution - 160 

The Law of God - 163 - 

The Decalogue as Changed by the Papacy - 167 

Belisarius Entering Rome - - - - 175 

Prominent Martyrs -------- iqq 

The Ram — Symbol of Medo-Persia ----- 190 

The He-Goat — Symbol of Grecia 193 

The Little Horn of Daniel VIII - - - - 199 

The Temple at Jerusalem at the Time of Christ - - 215 
(16) 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



17 



The Angel Gabriel Sent to Instruct Daniel - 238 

Diagram of the TO Weeks and 2300 Days - - 244 * 

Rebuilding the Walls of Jerusalem - - 251 

The Crucifixion ----- - 260 * 

Alexander Viewing the Dead Body of Darius - 281 

The Alexandrian Library - - - - - - - 297 

The Battle of Actium : Fulfilling Dan. 11 : 25 - - - 308 

A Roman Triumph --------- 314 

Imprisonment of Huss - - - - - ' - - 328 / 

Storming of the Tuilleries - - - - - - - 335 

The Goddess of Reason 339 ^ 

Peter the Great --------- 35(3 / 

"Many Shall Run To and Fro, and Knowledge Shall be 

Increased" - 382, 383 v 

John Writing the Revelation 39(3 

The Isle of Patmos -------- 413/ 

Christian Martyrs in Arena - - - - - - - 431 

Arch of Constantine --------- 484-/ 

The Lisbon Earthquake -------- 497 

Meteoric Shower, or Falling of the Stars, Nov. 13, 1833 - 506 

The Vandals Invading Africa ------ 544 

Attila, King of the Huns ------- 550 

Surrender of Western Rome to Odoacer -* - - 555 

" Woe, Woe, Woe, to the Inhabiters of the Earth " - - 560 

Mohammed and Mohammed II - 565 

Saracen Warrior - - - - - - - - 571 v 

Entry of Mohammed II into Constantinople - - 578 

Turkish Warrior 534V 

The Angel on Sea and Land ------- 539 

Preaching the Advent Message in [Norway - - - 594 

Fugitive Huguenots - - - - - - - - 606 

The Berlix Insurrection of 1848 - 613 

The Gospel Church -------- ^18 v 

Pagan and Papal Rome g23 -- 

Burning the Papal Bull - - ■• - - - - 629 x/ 

Eminent Reformers - - - - - - - 633 

Symbol of the United States in Prophecy - 644 

Landing of the Pilgrims ------- 555 

2 



18 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Map Showing the Territorial Growth of the United States 656 
The Pope's Tiara — From a Photograph Taken in the Vatican 



Museum - - - - 699 a 

The Everlasting Gospel - 709 

The Three Messages of Revelation 14 726 

The Seven Angels Pouring Out the Seven Last Plagues - 772 

The Great Earthquake _______ 781 

The Message of Rev. 18 : 1 - - - - - - - 794 

Babylon Palls, like a Millstone Cast into the Sea - - 810 

The Investigative Judgment - 831 < 

The Angel Showing John the Holy City - 842 

Foundation Walls of the New Jerusalem - - - 850 

Banyan Tree Illustrating the Tree of Life - - - 858 

" Visions of Beauty are There, Fields of Living Green " - 866 * 




THAT the book of Daniel was written by the person whose 
name it bears, there is no reason to doubt. Ezekiel, 
who was contemporary with Daniel, bears testimony, 
through the spirit of prophecy, to his piety and uprightness, 
ranking him in this respect with Noah and Job : " Or if I send 
a pestilence into that land, and pour out my fury upon it in 
blood, to cut off from it man and beast; though Noah, Daniel, 
and Job were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall 
deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their 
own souls by their righteousness." Eze. 14 : 19, 20. His wis- 
dom, also, even at that early day, had become proverbial, as 
appears from the same writer. To the prince of Tyrns he was 
directed by the Lord to say, " Behold, thou art wiser than Dan- 
iel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee." Eze, 
28:3. But above all, our Lord recognized him as a prophet of 
God, and bade his disciples understand the predictions given 
through him for the benefit of his church : " When ye therefore 
shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel 
the prophet, stand in the holy place (whoso readeth, let him 
understand), then let them which be in Judea flee into the 
mountains." Matt. 24:15, 16. 

Though we have a more minute account of his early life 
than is recorded of that of any other prophet, yet his birth and 
lineage are left in complete obscurity, except that he was of the 
royal line, probably of the house of David, which had at this 
time become very numerous. He first appears as one of the 
noble captives of Judali, in the first year of Nebuchadnezzar, 
king of Babylon, at the commencement of the seventy years' 
captivity, b. c. 606. Jeremiah and Habakkuk were yet utter- 

(19) 



20 



INTRODUCTION 



ing their prophecies. Ezekiel commenced soon after, and a 
little later, Obadiah ; but both these finished their work years 
before the close of the long and brilliant career of Daniel. 
Three prophets only succeeded him, Haggai and Zechariah, who 
exercised the prophetic office for a brief period contemporane- 
ously, b. c. 520 - 518, and Malachi, the last of the Old Testa- 
ment prophets, who flourished a little season about b. c. 397. 

During the seventy years' captivity of the Jews, b. c. 606 - 
536, predicted by Jeremiah (Jer. 25:11), Daniel resided at 
the court of Babylon, most of the time prime minister of that 
brilliant monarchy. His life affords a most impressive lesson 
of the importance and advantage of maintaining from earliest 
youth strict integrity toward God, and furnishes a notable in- 
stance of a man's maintaining eminent piety, and faithfully dis- 
charging all the duties that pertain to the service of God, while 
at the same time engaging in the most stirring activities, and 
bearing the weightiest cares and responsibilities that can de- 
volve upon men in this earthly life. 

What a rebuke is his course to many at the present day, 
who, having not a hundredth part of the cares to absorb their 
time and engross their attention that he had, yet plead as an 
excuse for their almost utter neglect of Christian duties, that 
they have no time for them. What will the God of Daniel say 
to such, when he comes to reward his servants impartially, ac- 
cording to their improvement or neglect of the opportunities 
offered them? 

But. it is not alone nor chiefly his connection with the Chal- 
dean monarchy, the glory of kingdoms, that perpetuates the 
memory of Daniel, and covers his name with honor. From 
the height of its glory he saw that kingdom decline, and pass 
into other hands. Its period of greatest prosperity was em- 
braced within the limits of the lifetime of one man. So brief 
was its supremacy, so transient its glory. But Daniel was 
intrusted with more enduring honors. While beloved and hon- 
ored by the princes and potentates of Babylon, he enjoyed an 
infinitely higher exaltation, in being beloved and honored by 
God and his holy angels, and admitted to a knowledge of the 
counsels of the Most High. 



INTRODUCTION 



21 



His prophecy is, in many respects, the most remarkable of 
any in the sacred record. It is the most comprehensive. It 
was the first prophecy giving a consecutive history of the world 
from that time to the end. It located the most of its predictions 
within well-defined prophetic periods, though reaching many 
centuries into the future. It gave the first definite chronolog- 
ical prophecy of the coming of the Messiah. It marked the 
time of this event so definitely that the Jews forbid any at- 
tempt to interpret its numbers, since that prophecy shows them 
to be without excuse in rejecting Christ; and so accurately had 
its minute and literal predictions been fulfilled down to the 
time of Porphyry, a. d. 250, that he declared (the only loop- 
hole he could devise for his hard-pressed skepticism) that the 
predictions were not written in the age of Babylon, but after 
the events themselves had transpired. This shift, however, is 
not now available ; for every succeeding century has borne ad- 
ditional evidence to the truthfulness of the prophecy, and we 
are just now, in our own day, approaching the climax of its 
fulfilment. 

The personal history of Daniel reaches to a date a few years 
subsequent to the subversion of the Babylonian kingdom by 
the Medes and Persians. He is supposed to have died at Shu- 
shan, or Susa, in Persia, about the year b. c. 530, aged nearly 
ninety-four years ; his age being the probable reason why he 
returned not to Judea with other Hebrew captives, under the 
proclamation of Cyrus (Ezra 1:1), b. c. 536, which marked 
the close of the seventy years' captivity. 



to the 




of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and 
besieged it. 2. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his 
hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God; which he car- 
ried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought 
the vessels into the treasure-house of his god. 

WITH a directness characteristic of the sacred writers, 
Daniel enters at once upon his subject. He com- 
mences in the simple, historical style, his book, with 
the exception of a portion of chapter 2, being of a historical 
nature till we reach the seventh chapter, when the prophetical 
portion, more properly so called, commences. Like one con- 
scious of uttering only well-known truth, he proceeds at once 
to state a variety of particulars by which his accuracy could 

(23) 



24 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



at once be tested. Thus in the two verses quoted, he states 
five particulars purporting to be historical facts, such as no 
writer would be likely to introduce into a fictitious narrative : 
(1) That Jehoiakim w r as king of Judak; (2) That Nebuchad- 
nezzar was king of Babylon; (3) That the latter came against 
the former; (4) That this was in the third year of Jehoiakim's 
reign; and (5) That Jehoiakim w T as given into the hand of 
Nebuchadnezzar, who took a portion of the sacred vessels of the 
house of God, and carrying them to the land of Shinar, the 
country of Babylon (Gen. 10 : 10), placed them in the treasure- 
house of his heathen divinity. Subsequent portions of the 
narrative abound as fully in historical facts of a like nature. 

This overthrow of Jerusalem was predicted by Jeremiah, 
and immediately accomplished, b. c. 606. Jer. 25:8- 11. 
Jeremiah places this captivity in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, 
Daniel in the third. This seeming discrepancy is explained 
by the fact that Nebuchadnezzar set out on his expedition near 
the close of the third year of Jehoiakim, from which point 
Daniel reckons. But he did not accomplish the subjugation of 
Jerusalem till about the ninth month of the year following; 
and from this year Jeremiah reckons. (Prideaux, Vol. I, pp. 
99, 100.) Jehoiakim, though bound for the purpose of being 
taken to Babylon, having humbled himself, was permitted to 
remain as ruler in Jerusalem, tributary to the king of Babylon. 

This was the first time Jerusalem w T as taken by Nebuchad- 
nezzar. Twice subsequently, the city, having revolted, was 
captured by the same king, being more severely dealt with each 
succeeding time. Of these subsequent overthrows, the first was 
under Jehoiachin, son of Jehoiakim, b. c. 599, when all the 
sacred vessels were either taken or destroyed, and the best of 
the inhabitants, with the king, w T ere led into captivity. The 
second w T as under Zedekiah, when the city endured the most 
formidable siege it ever sustained, except that by Titus, in 
a. d. 70. During the two years' continuance of this siege, the 
inhabitants of the city suffered all the horrors of extreme fam- 
ine. At length the garrison and king, attempting to escape 
from the city, w r ere captured by the Chaldeans. The sons of 
the king were slain before his face. His eyes were put out, 



CHAPTER 1, VERSES 1-5 27 

and he was taken to Babylon ; and thus was fulfilled the pre- 
diction of Ezekiel, who declared that he should be carried to 
Babylon, and die there, but yet should not see the place. Eze. 
12 : 13. The city and temple were at this time utterly de- 
stroyed, and the entire population of the city and country, with 
the exception of a few husbandmen, were carried captive to 
Babylon, b. c. 588. 

Such was God's passing testimony against sin. Not that 
the Chaldeans were the favorites of Heaven, but God made 
use of them to punish the iniquities of his people. Had the 
Israelites been faithful to God, and kept his Sabbath, Jerusa- 
lem would have stood forever. Jer. 17 : 24-27. But they 
departed from him, and he abandoned them. They first pro- 
faned the sacred vessels by sin, in introducing heathen idols 
among them; and he then profaned them by judgments, in 
letting them go as trophies into heathen temples abroad. 

During these days of trouble and distress upon Jerusalem, 
Daniel and his companions were nourished and instructed in 
the palace of the king of Babylon; and, though captives in a 
strange land, they were doubtless in some respects much more 
favorably situated than they could have been in their native 
country. 

Verse 3. And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eu- 
nuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of 
the king's seed, and of the princes ; 4. Children in whom was no blem- 
ish, but well-favored, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in 
knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them 
to stand in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the learning 
and the tongue of the Chaldeans. 5. And the king appointed them a 
daily provision of the king's meat, and of the wine which he drank; 
so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might 
stand before the king. 

We have in these verses the record of the probable fulfil- 
ment of the announcement of coming judgments made to King 
Hezekiah by the prophet Isaiah, more than a hundred years 
before. When this king had vaingloriously shown to the mes- 
sengers of the king of Babylon all the treasures and holy 
things of his palace and kingdom, he was told that all these 
good things should be carried as trophies to the city of Baby- 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



Ion, and nothing should be left ; and that even his own children, 
his descendants, should be taken away, and be eunuchs in the 
palace of the king there. 2 Kings 20 : 14 - 18. It is probable 
that Daniel and his companions were treated as indicated in 
the prophecy ; at least we hear nothing of their posterity, which 
can be more easily accounted for on this hypothesis than on any 
other; though some think that the term eunuch had come to 
signify office rather than condition. 

The word children, as applied to these captives, is not to be 
confined to the sense to which it is limited at the present time. 
It included youth also. And we learn from the record that 
these children were already skilful in all wisdom, cunning in 
knowledge, and understanding science, and had ability in them 
to stand in the king's palace. In other words, they had already 
acquired a good degree of education, and their physical and 
mental powers were so far developed that a skilful reader of 
human nature could form quite an accurate estimate of their 
capabilities. They are supposed to have been about eighteen 
or twenty years of age. 

In the treatment which these Hebrew captives received, we 
see an instance of the wise policy and the liberality of the 
rising king, Nebuchadnezzar. 

1. Instead of choosing, like too many kings of later times, 
means for the gratification of low and base desires, he chose 
young men who should be educated in all matters pertaining to 
the kingdom, that he might have efficient help in administering 
its affairs. 

2. He appointed them daily provision of his own meat and 
wine. Instead of the coarse fare which some would have 
thought good enough for captives, he offered them his own 
royal viands. 

For the space of three years, they had all the advantages 
the kingdom afforded. Though captives, they were royal chil- 
dren, and they were treated as such by the humane king of 
the Chaldeans. 

The question may be raised, why these persons were selected 
to take part, after suitable preparation, in the affairs of the 
kingdom. Were there not enough native Babylonians to fill 



CHAPTER 1, VERSES 6 - 16 



29 



these positions of trust and honor ? It could have been for 
no other reason than that the Chaldean youth could not com- 
pete with those of Israel in the qualifications, both mental and »• 
physical, necessary to such a position. 

Verse 6. Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, 
Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah : 7. Unto whom the prince of the 
eunuchs gave names; for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belte- 
shazzar ; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach ; and to Mishael, of Meshach' ; 
and to Azariah, of Abed-nego. 

This change of names was probably made on acount of the 
signification of the words. Thus, Daniel signified, in the He- 
brew, God is my judge ; Hananiah, gift of the Lord ; Mishael, 
he that is a strong God ; and Azariah, help of the Lord. These 
names, each having some reference to the true God, and sig- 
nifying some connection with his worship, were changed to 
names the definition of which bore a like relation to the heathen 
divinities and worship of the Chaldeans. Thus Belteskazzar, 
the name given to Daniel, signified keeper of the hid treasures 
of Bel; Shadrach, inspiration of the sun (which the Chal- 
deans worshiped) ; Meshach, of the goddess Shaca (under which 
name Venus was worshiped) ; and Abed-nego, servant of the 
shining fire (which they also worshiped). 

Verse 8. But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile 
himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which 
he drank; therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that 
he might not defile himself. 9. Now God had brought Daniel into 
favor and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs. 10. And the 
prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who 
hath appointed your meat and your drink; for why should he see 
your faces worse liking than the children which are of your sort ? then 
shall ye make me endanger my head to the king. 11. Then said 
Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Dan- 
iel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, 12. Prove thy servants, I beseech 
thee, ten days ; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink. 
13. Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the 
countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king's meat ; 
and as thou seest, deal with thy servants. 14. So he consented to 
them in this matter, and proved them ten days. 15. And at the end 
of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than 
all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat. 16. 
Thus Melzar took away the portion of their meat, and the wine that 
they should drink; and gave them pulse. 



30 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



Nebuchadnezzar appears upon this record wonderfully free 
from bigotry. It seems that he took no means to compel his 
royal captives to change their religion. Provided they had 
some religion, he seemed to be satisfied, whether it was the 
religion he professed or not. And although their names had 
been changed to signify some connection with heathen worship, 
this may have been more to avoid the use of Jewish names by 
the Chaldeans than to indicate any change of sentiment or 
practice on the part of those to whom these names were given. 

Daniel purposed not to defile himself with the king's meat 
nor with his wine. Daniel had other reasons for this course 
than simply the effect of such a diet upon his physical system, 
though he would derive great advantage in this respect from 
the fare he proposed to adopt. But it was frequently the case 
that the meat used by the kings and princes of heathen nations, 
who were often the high priests of their religion, was first of- 
fered in sacrifice to idols, and the wine they used, poured out 
as a libation before them; and again, some of the meat of 
which they made use, was pronounced unclean by the Jewish 
law; and on either of these grounds Daniel could not, consist- 
ently with his religion, partake of these articles ; hence he 
requested, not from any morose or sullen temper, but from 
conscientious scruples, that he might not be obliged to defile 
himself; and he resjDectfully made his request known to the 
proper officer. 

The prince of the eunuchs feared to grant Daniel's request, 
since the king himself had appointed their meat. This shows 
the great personal interest the king took in these persons. He 
did not commit them to the hands of his servants, telling them 
to care for them in the best manner, without himself entering 
into its details ; but he himself appointed their meat and drink. 
And this was of a kind which it was honestly supposed would 
be best for them, inasmuch as the prince of the eunuchs thought 
that a departure from it would render them poorer in fiesh and 
less ruddy of countenance than those who continued it ; and 
thus he would be brought to account for neglect or ill-treatment 
of them, and so lose his head. Yet it was equally well under- 
stood that if they maintained good physical conditions, the 



CHAPTER 1, VERSES 8-21 31 

king would take no exception to the means used, though it 
might be contrary to his own express direction. It appears 
that the king's sincere object was to secure in them, by what- 
ever means it could be done, the very best mental and physical 
development that could be attained. How different this from 
the bigotry and tyranny which usually hold supreme control 
over the hearts of those who are clothed with absolute power. 
In the character of Nebuchadnezzar we shall find many things 
worthy of our highest admiration. 

Daniel requested pulse and water for himself and his three 
companions. Pulse is a vegetable food of the leguminous kind, 
like peas, beans, etc. Bagster says, " Zeroim denotes all le- 
guminous plants, which are not reaped, but pulled or plucked, 
which, however wholesome, were not naturally calculated to 
render them fatter in flesh than the others." 

A ten days' trial of this diet resulting favorably, they were 
permitted to continue it during the whole course of their train- 
ing for the duties of the palace. Their increase in flesh and 
improvement in countenance which took place during these ten 
days can hardly be attributed to the natural result of the diet ; 
for it would hardly produce such marked effects in so short a 
time. Is it not much more natural to conclude that this re- 
sult was produced by a special interposition of the Lord, as a 
token of his approbation of the course on which they had 
entered, which course, if persevered in, would in process of 
time lead to the same result through the natural operation of 
the laws of their being ? 

Verse 17. As for these four children, God gave them knowledge 
and skill in all learning and wisdom ; and Daniel had understanding 
in all visions and dreams. 18. Now at the end of the days that the 
king had said that he should bring them in, then the prince of the 
eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. 19. And the king 
communed with them; and among them all was found none like 
Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; therefore stood they be- 
fore the king. 20. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding 
that the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than 
all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm. 21. 
And Daniel continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus. 

To Daniel alone seems to have been committed an under- 
standing in visions and dreams. But the Lord's dealing with 



32 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



Daniel in this respect does not prove the others any the less 
accepted in his sight. Preservation in the midst of the fiery 
furnace was as good evidence of the divine favor as they could 
have had. Daniel probably had some natural qualifications 
that peculiarly fitted him for this special work. 

The same personal interest in these individuals heretofore 
manifested by the king, he still continued to maintain. At the 
end of the three years, he called them to a personal interview. 
He must know for himelf how they had fared, and what pro- 
ficiency they had made. This interview also shows the king 
to have been a man well versed in all the arts and sciences 
of the Chaldeans, else he would not have been qualified to ex- 
amine others therein. As the result, recognizing merit wher- 
ever he saw it, without respect to religion or nationality, he 
acknowledged them to be ten times superior to any in his own 
land. 

And it is added that Daniel continued even unto the first 
year of King Cyrus. This is an instance of the somewhat 
singular use of the word unto, or until, which occasionally 
occurs in the sacred writings. It does not mean that he con- 
tinued no longer than to the first year of Cyrus, for he lived 
some years after the commencement of his reign ; but this is 
the time to which the writer wished to direct special attention, 
as it brought deliverance to the captive Jews. A similar use 
of the word is found in Ps. 112 : 8 and Matt. 5:18. 




CHAPTEK II. 

Yerse 1. And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, 
Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, 
and his sleep brake from him. 



DANIEL was carried into captivity in the first year of 
Nebuchadnezzar. Eor three years he "was placed under 
instructors, during wdiich time he would not, of course, 
be reckoned among the wise men of the kingdom, nor take 
part in public affairs. Yet in the second year of Nebuchad- 
nezzar, the transactions recorded in this chapter took place. 
How, then, could Daniel be brought in to interpret the king's 
dream in his second year ? The explanation lies in the fact 
that Nebuchadnezzar reigned for two years conjointly with 
his father, Nabopolassar. From this point the Jews reck- 
oned, while the Chaldeans reckoned from the time he com- 
3 _ (33) 



34 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



menced to reign alone, on the death of his father. Hence, 
the year here mentioned was the second year of his reign ac- 
cording to the Chaldean reckoning, but the fourth according to 
the Jewish. It thus appears that the very next year after 
Daniel had completed his preparation to participate in the 
affairs of the Chaldean empire, the providence of God brought 
him into sudden and wonderful notoriety throughout all the 
kingdom. 

Verse 2. Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the 
astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to show the 
king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king. 

The magicians were such as practiced magic, using the 
term in its bad sense ; that is, they practiced all the supersti- 
tious rites and ceremonies of fortune-tellers, casters of nativi- 
ties, etc. Astrologers were men who pretended to foretell 
future events by the study of the stars. The science, or the 
superstition, of astrology was extensively cultivated by the 
Eastern nations of antiquity. Sorcerers were such as pre- 
tended to hold communication with the dead. In this sense, 
we believe, it is always used in the Scriptures. Modern Spirit- 
ualism is simply ancient heathen sorcery revived. The Chal- 
deans here mentioned were a sect of philosophers similar to the 
magicians and astrologers, who made physic, divinations, etc., 
their study. All these sects or professions abounded in Baby- 
lon. The end aimed at by each was the same ; namely, the 
explaining of mysteries and the foretelling of future events, the 
principal difference between them being the means by which 
they sought to accomplish their object. The king's difficulty 
lay equally within the province of each to explain; hence he 
summoned them all. With the king it was an important mat- 
ter. He was greatly troubled, and therefore concentrated upon 
the solution of his perplexity the whole wisdom of his realm. 

Verse 3. And the king said nnto them, I have dreamed a dream, 
and my spirit was troubled to know the dream. 4. Then spake the 
Chaldeans to the king in Syriac, O king, live forever; tell thy serv- 
ants the dream, and we will show the interpretation. 

Whatever else the ancient magicians and astrologers may 
have been efficient in, they seem to have been thoroughly 



CHAPTER 2, VERSES 5-1$ 



35 



schooled in the art of drawing out sufficient information to 
form a basis for some shrewd calculation, or of framing their 
answers in so ambiguous a manner that they would be equally 
applicable, let the event turn either way. In the present case, 
true to their cunning instincts, they called upon the king to 
make known to them his dream. If they could get full infor- 
mation respecting this, they could easily agree on some inter- 
pretation which would not endanger their reputation. They 
addressed themselves to the king in Syriac, a dialect of the 
Chaldean language which was used by the educated and cul- 
tured classes. From this point to the end of chapter 7, the 
record continues in Chaldaic. 

Verse 5. The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing 
is gone from me; if ye will not make known unto me the dream, 
with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your 
houses shall be made a dunghill. 6. But if ye show the dream, and 
the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards 
and great honor; therefore show me the dream, and the interpreta- 
tion thereof. 7. They answered again and said, Let the king tell his 
servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation of it. 8. 
The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would gain 
the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me. 9. But if ye 
will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for 
you ; for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, 
till the time be changed; therefore tell me the dream, and I shall 
know that ye can show me the interpretation thereof. 10. The Chal- 
deans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon 
the earth that can show the king's matter ; therefore there is no king, 
lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, 
or Chaldean. 11. And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, 
and there is none other that can show it before the king, except the 
gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh. 12. For this cause the king 
was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise 
men of Babylon. 13. And the decree went forth that the wise men 
should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain. 

These verses contain the record of the desperate struggle 
between the wise men, so called, and the king; the former 
seeking some avenue of escape, seeing they were caught on 
their own ground, and the latter determined that they should 
make known his dream, which was no more than their profes- 
sion would warrant him in demanding. Some have severely 
censured Nebuchadnezzar in this matter, as acting the part of 



36 



PROPHECY OP" DANIEL 



a heartless, unreasonable tyrant. But what did these magi- 
cians profess to be able to do ? — To reveal hidden things ; to 
foretell future events; to make known mysteries entirely be- 
yond human foresight and penetration ; and to do this by the 
aid of supernatural agencies. If, then, their claim was worth 
anything, could they not make known to the king what he had 
dreamed ? — They certainly could. And if they were able, 
knowing the dream, to give a reliable interpretation thereof, 
would they not also be able to make known the dream itself 
when it had gone from the king ? — Certainly, if there was any 
virtue in their pretended intercourse with the other world. 
There was therefore nothing unjust in Nebuchadnezzar's de- 
mand that they should make known his dream. And when they 
declared (verse 11) that none but the gods whose dwelling was 
not with flesh could make known the king's matter, it was a 
tacit acknowledgment that they had no communication with 
these gods, and knew nothing beyond what human wisdom and 
discernment could reveal. For this cause, the king was angry 
and very furious. He saw that he and all his people were 
being made the victims of deception. He accused them (verse 
9) of endeavoring to dally along till the " time be changed," 
or till the matter had so passed from his mind that his anger 
at their duplicity should abate, and he would either recall the 
dream himself, or be unsolicitous whether it were made known 
and interpreted or not. And while we cannot justify the ex- 
treme measures to which he resorted, dooming them to death, 
and their houses to destruction, we cannot but feel a hearty 
sympathy with him in his condemnation of a class of miser- 
able impostors. 

The severity of his sentence was probably attributable more 
to the customs of those times than to any malignity on the part 
of the king. Yet it was a bold and desperate step. Con- 
sider who these were who thus incurred the wrath of the king. 
They were numerous, opulent, and influential sects. More- 
over, they were the learned and cultivated classes of those 
times; yet the king was not so wedded to his false religion 
as to spare it even with all this influence in its favor. If 
the system was one of fraud and imposition, it must fall, how- 




i_ B 



DANIEL AND HIS FELLOWS ARE SOUGHT 



TO BE SLAIN 



CHAPTER 2, VERSES U - 18 



39 



ever high its votaries might stand in numbers or position, or 
however many of them might be involved in its ruim The 
king would be no party to dishonesty or deception. 

Verse 14. Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to 
Arioch the captain of the king's guard, which was gone forth to slay 
the wise men of Babylon. 15. He answered and said to Arioch the 
king's captain, Why is the decree so hasty from the king? Then 
Arioch made the thing known to Daniel. 16. Then Daniel went in, 
and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he 
would show the king the interpretation. IT. Then Daniel went to 
his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Aza- 
riah, his companions ; 18. That they would desire mercies of the God 
of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should 
not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 

In this narrative we see the providence of God working in 
several remarkable particulars. 

1. It was providential that the dream of the king should 
leave such a poAverful impression 'upon his mind as to raise 
him to the greatest height of anxiety, and yet the thing itself 
should be held from his recollection. This led to the complete 
exposure of the false system of the magicians and other pagan 
teachers ; for when put to the test to make known the dream, 
it was found that they were unable to do what their profession 
made it incumbent on them to do. 

2. It was remarkable that Daniel and his companions, so 
lately pronounced by the king ten times better than all his 
magicians and astrologers, should not sooner have been con- 
sulted, or, rather, should not have been consulted at all, in 
this matter. But there was a providence in this. Just as the 
dream was held from the king, so he was unaccountably held 
from appealing to Daniel for a solution of the mystery. For 
had he called on Daniel at first, and had he at once made 
known the matter, the magicians would not have been brought 
to the test. But God would give the heathen systems of the 
Chaldeans the first chance. He would let them try, and igno- 
miniously fail, and confess their utter incompetency, even 
under the penalty of death, that they might be the better pre- 
pared to acknowledge his hand when he should finally reach it 
down in behalf of his captive servants, and for the honor of 
his own name. 



4:0 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



3. It appears that the first intimation Daniel had of the 
matter was the presence of the executioners, come for his ar- 
rest. His own life heing thns at stake, he would be led to 
seek the Lord with all his heart till he should work for their 
deliverance. Daniel gains his request of the king for time to 
consider the matter, — a privilege which probably none of the 
magicians could have secured, as the king had already accused 
them of preparing lying and corrupt words, and of seeking to 
gain time for this very purpose; Daniel at once went to his 
three companions, and engaged them to unite with him in de- 
siring mercy of the God of heaven concerning this secret. He 
could have prayed alone, and doubtless would have been heard ; 
but then, as now, in the union of God's people there is pre- 
vailing power ; and the promise of the accomplishment of that 
which is asked, is to the two or three who shall agree concerning 
it. Matt. 18: 19, 20. 

Verse 19. Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night 
vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. 20. Daniel answered 
and said, Blessed be the name of God forever and ever; for wisdom 
and might are his; 21. And he changeth the times and the seasons; 
he removeth kings, and setteth up kings ; he giveth wisdom unto the 
wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding ; 22. He reveal- 
eth the deep and secret things; he knoweth what is in the darkness, 
and the light dwelleth with him. 23. I thank thee, and praise thee, O 
thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and 
hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee ; for thou hast 
now made known unto us the king's matter. 

Whether or not the answer came while Daniel and his 
companions were yet offering up their petitions, we are not 
informed. If it did, it shows their importunity in the matter ; 
for it was through a night vision that God revealed himself in 
their behalf, which would show that they continued their sup- 
plications, as might reasonably be inferred, far into the night, 
and ceased not till the answer was obtained. Or, if their 
season of prayer had closed, and God at a subsequent time sent 
the answer, it would show us that, as is sometimes the case, 
prayers are not unavailing though not immediately answered. 
Some think the matter was made known to Daniel by his dream- 
ing the same dream that Nebuchadnezzar had dreamed; but 



CHAPTER 2, VERSES 19 - ^ 



41 



Matthew Henry considers it more probable that " when he was 
awake, and continuing instant in prayer, and watching in the 
same, the dream itself and the interpretation of it were com- 
municated to him by the ministry of an angel, abundantly to 
his satisfaction." The words " night vision " mean anything 
that is seen, whether through dreams or visions. 

Daniel immediately offered up praise to God for his gracious 
dealing with them; and while his prayer is not preserved, his 
responsive thanksgiving is fully recorded. God is honored by 
our rendering him praise for the things he has done for us, as 
well as by our acknowledging through prayer our need of his 
help. Let Daniel's course be our example in this respect. Let 
no mercy from the hand of God fail of its due return of 
thanksgiving and praise. Were not ten lepers cleansed? 
" But where," asks Christ sorrowfully, " are the nine ? " Luke 
17: 17. 

Daniel had the utmost confidence in what had been shown 
him. He did not first go to the king, to see if what had been 
revealed to him was indeed the king's dream; but he immedi- 
ately praised God for having answered his prayer. 

Although the matter was revealed to Daniel, he did not 
take honor to himself as though it were by his prayers alone 
that this thing had been obtained, but immediately associated 
his companions with himself, and acknowledged it to be as 
much an answer to their prayers as to his own. It was, said 
he, " what we desired of thee," and thou hast made it " known 
unto us." 

Verse 24. Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king 
had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he went and said 
thus unto him : Destroy not the wise men of Babylon ; bring me in 
before the king, and I will show unto the king the interpretation. 

Daniel's first plea is for the wise men of Babylon. Destroy 
them not, for the king's secret is revealed. True it was through 
no merit of theirs or their heathen systems of divination that 
this revelation was made ; they were worthy of just as much 
condemnation as before. But their own confession of utter 
impotence in the matter was humiliation enough for them, 
and Daniel was anxious that they should so far partake of 



42 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



the benefits shown to him as to have their own lives spared. 
Thus they were saved because there was a man of God among 
them. And thus it ever is. For the sake of Paul and Silas, 
all the prisoners with them were loosed. Acts 16: 26. For 
the sake of Paul, the lives of all that sailed with him were 
saved. Chapter 27 : 24. Thus the ivicked are benefited by 
the presence of the righteous. Well would it be if they would 
remember the obligations under which they are thus placed. 
What saves the world to-day ? For whose sake is it still 
spared ? — For the sake of the few righteous persons who are 
yet left. Pemove these, and how long Avould the wicked be 
suffered to run their guilty career ? — No longer than the ante- 
diluvians were suffered, after Noah had entered the ark, or 
the Sodomites, after Lot had departed from their polluted and 
polluting presence. If only ten righteous persons could have 
been found in Sodom, the multitude of its wicked inhabitants 
would, for their sakes, have been spared. Yet the wicked will 
despise, ridicule, and oppress the very ones on whose account 
it is that they are still permitted the enjoyment of life and all 
its blessings. £ 

• Verse 25. Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, 
and said thus unto him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah, 
that will make known unto the king the interpretation. 

It is ever a characteristic of ministers and courtiers to in- 
gratiate themselves with their sovereign. So here Arioch rep- 
resented that he had found a man who could make known the 
desired interpretation; as if with great disinterestedness, 
in behalf of the king, he had been searching for some one to 
solve his difficulty, and had at last found him. In order to 
see through this deception of his chief executioner, the king 
had but to remember, as he probably did, his interview with 
Daniel (verse 16), and Daniel's promise, if time could be 
granted, to show the interpretation thereof. 

Verse 26. The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name 
was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make known unto me the dream 
which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof? 27. Daniel an- 
swered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the 
king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers* the magi- 



CHAPTER 2, VERSES 26 - SO 



43 



clans, the soothsayers, show unto the king; 28. But there is a God in 
heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebu- 
chadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the 
visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these. 

Art thou able to make known the dream? was the king's 
doubtful salutation to Daniel, as he came into his presence. 
Notwithstanding his previous acquaintance with Daniel, the 
king seems to have questioned his ability, so young and inex- 
perienced, to make known a matter in which the aged and 
venerable magicians and soothsayers had utterly failed. Daniel 
declared plainly that the wise men, the astrologers, the sooth- 
sayers, and the magicians could not make known this secret. 
It was beyond their power. Therefore the king should not be 
angry with them, nor put confidence in their inefficient super- 
stitions. He then proceeds to make known the true God, who 
rules in heaven, and is the only revealer of secrets. And he it 
is, says Daniel, who maketh known to the king Nebuchad- 
nezzar what shall be in the latter days. 

Verse 29. As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind 
upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter; and he that re- 
vealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass. 30. 
But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that 
I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make 
known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know 
the thoughts of thy heart. 

Here is brought out another of the commendable traits of 
Nebuchadnezzar's character. Unlike some rulers, who fill up 
the present with folly and debauchery without regard to the 
future, he thought forward upon the days to come, with an 
anxious desire to know with what events they should be filled. 
His object in this was, doubtless, that he might the better know 
how to make a wise improvement of the present. For this rea- 
son God gave him this dream, which we must regard as a token 
of the divine favor toward the king, as there were many other 
ways in which the truth involved in this matter could have 
been brought out, equally to the honor of God's name, and the 
good of his people both at that time and through subsequent 
generations. Yet God would not work for the king independ- 
ently of his own people; hence, though he gave the dream to 



44 PROPHECY OP DANIEL 

the king, he sent the interpretation through one of his own 
acknowledged servants. Daniel first disclaimed all credit for 
himself in the transaction, and then to modify somewhat the 
feelings of pride which it would have been natural for the king 
to have, in view of being thus noticed by the God of heaven, 
he informed him indirectly, that, although the dream had been 
given to him, it was not for his sake altogether that the inter- 
pretation was sent, but for their sakes through whom it should 
be made known. Ah! God had some servants there, and it 
was for them that he was working. They are of more value in 
his sight than the mightiest kings and potentates of earth. Had 
it not been for them, the king would never have had the inter- 
pretation of his dream, probably not even the dream itself. 
Thus, when traced to their source, all favors, upon whomsoever 
bestowed, are found to be due to the regard which God has for 
his own children. How comprehensive was the work of God 
in this instance. By this one act of revealing the king's dream 
to Daniel, he accomplished the following objects : (1) He made 
known to the king the -things he desired; (2) He saved his 
servants who trusted in him; (3) He brought conspicuously 
before the Chaldean nation the knowledge of the true God; (4) 
He poured contempt on the false systems of the soothsayers and 
magicians ; and ( 5 ) He honored his own name, and exalted his 
servants in their eyes. 

Verse 31. Thou, 0 king, sawest, and behold a great image. This 
great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and 
the form thereof was terrible. 32. This image's head was of fine gold, 
his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, 33. 
His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. 34. Thou 
sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the 
image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to 
pieces. 35. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the 
gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chart* of the 
summer threshing-floors; and the wind carried them away, that no 
place was found for them ; and the stone that smote the image became 
a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. 

Nebuchadnezzar, practicing the Chaldean religion, was an 
idolater. An image was an object which would at once com- 
mand his attention and respect. Moreover, earthly kingdoms, 
which, as we shall hereafter see, were represented by this 



THE GREAT WORLD-KINGDOM IMAGE 
DAN. a ; 31 - 34. 



CHAPTER 2, VERSES 31 - So 



47 



image, were objects of esteem and value in his eyes. With 
a mind unenlightened by the light of revelation, he was unpre- 
pared to pnt a true estimate upon earthly wealth and glory, 
and to look upon earthly governments in their true light. 
Hence the striking harmony between the estimate which he 
put upon these things, and the object by which they were 
symbolized before him. To him they were presented under 
the form of a great image, an object in his eyes of worth and 
admiration. With Daniel the case was far different. He was 
able to view in its true light all greatness and glory not built 
on the favor and approbation of God; and therefore to him 
these same earthly kingdoms were afterward shown (see chap- 
ter 7) under the form of cruel and ravenous wild beasts. 

But Iioav admirably adapted was this representation to con- 
vey a great and needful truth to the mind of Nebuchadnezzar. 
Besides delineating the progress of events through the whole 
course of time for the benefit of his people, God would show 
Nebuchadnezzar the utter emptiness and worthlessness of 
earthly pomp and glory. And how could this be more im- 
pressively done than by an image commencing with the most 
precious of metals, and continually descending to the baser, 
till we finally have the coarsest and crudest of materials, — iron 
mingled with the miry clay, — the whole then dashed to pieces, 
and made like the empty chaff, no good thing in it, but alto- 
gether lighter than vanity, and finally blown away where no 
place could be found for it, after which something durable and 
of heavenly worth occupies its place ? So would God show 
to the children of men that earthly kingdoms were to pass 
away, and earthly greatness and glory, like a gaudy bubble, 
would break and vanish ; and the kingdom of God, in the 
place so long usurped by these, should be set up, to have no 
end, and all who had an interest therein should rest under the 
shadow of its peaceful wings forever and ever. But this is 
anticipating. 

Verse 36. This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation 
thereof before the king. 37. Thon, 0 king, art a king of kings; 
for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, 
and glory. 38. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the 



48 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into 
thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this 
head of gold. 

Now opens one of the sublimest chapters of human history. 
Eight short verses of the inspired record tell the whole story; 
yet that story embraces the history of this world's pomp and 
power. A few moments will suffice to commit it to memory; 
yet the period which it covers, commencing more than twenty- 
five centuries ago, reaches on from that far-distant point past 
the rise and fall of kingdoms, past the setting up and over- 
throw of empires, past cycles and ages, past our own day, over 
into the eternal state. It is so comprehensive that it embraces 
all this; yet it is so minute that it gives us all the great out- 
lines of earthly kingdoms from that time to this. Human 
wisdom never devised so brief a record which embraced so 
much. Human language never set forth in so few words, so 
great a volume of historical truth. The finger of God is here. 
Let us heed the lesson well. 

With what interest, as well as astonishment, must the king 
have listened, as he was informed by the prophet that he, or 
rather his kingdom, the king being here put for his kingdom 
(see the following verse), was the golden head of the magnifi- 
cent image which he had seen. Ancient kings were grateful 
for success; and in cases of prosperity, the tutelar deity, to 
whom they attributed their success, was the adorable object 
upon which they would lavish their richest treasures and be- 
stow their best devotions. Daniel indirectly informs the king 
that in this case all these are due to the God of heaven, since 
he is the one who has given him his kingdom, and made him 
ruler over all. This would restrain him from the pride of 
thinking that he had attained his position by his own power 
and wisdom, and would enlist the gratitude of his heart toward 
the true God. 

The kingdom of Babylon, which finally developed into the 
golden head of the great historic image, was founded by Mm- 
rod, the great-grandson of Noah, over tAvo thousand years 
before Christ Gen. 10:8-10: "And Cush begat Mmrod; 
he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty 



CHAPTER 2, VERSES 36 - 38 



49 



hunter before the Lord; wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod, 
the mighty hunter before the Lord. And the beginning of his 
kingdom was Babel [margin, Babylon], and Erech, and Accad, 
and Calneh, in the land of Shinar." It appears that Nimrod 
also founded the city of Nmeveh, which afterward became the 
capital of Syria. (See marginal reading of Gen. 10: 11, and 
Johnson's Cyclopedia, art. Syria.) The following sketch of 
the history of Babylon, from Johnson's Universal Cyclopedia, 
art. Babylon, is according to the latest authorities on this 
subject : — 

"About 1270 b. c, the Assyrian kings became masters of 
Chaldea, or Babylonia, of which Babylon was the capital. 
This country was afterward ruled by an Assyrian dynasty 
of kings, who reigned at Babylon, and sometimes waged war 
against those who reigned in Assyria proper. At other times 
the kings of Babylon were tributary to those of Assyria. Sev- 
eral centuries elapsed in which the history of Babylon is almost 
a blank. In the time of Tiglath-pileser of Assyria, Nabonassar 
ascended the throne of Babylon in 747 b. c. He is celebrated 
for the chronological era which bears his name, and which 
began in 747 b. c. About 720 Merodach-baladan became king 
of Babylon, and sent ambassadors to Hezekiah, king of Judah 
(see 2 Kings 20, and Isa. 39). A few years later, S argon, 
king of Assyria, defeated and dethroned ^lerodach-baladan. 
Sennacherib completed the subjection of Babylon, which he 
annexed to the Assyrian empire about 690 b. c. The con- 
quest of Nineveh and the subversion of the Assyrian empire, 
which was effected about 625 b. c, by Cyaxares the Mede, 
and his ally Xabopolassar, the rebellious governor of Babylon, 
enabled the latter to found the Babylonian empire, which was 
the fourth of Rawlinson's 1 Eive Great Monarchies/ and in- 
cluded the valley of the Euphrates, Susiana, Syria, and Pales- 
estine. His reign lasted about twenty-one years, and ivas 
probably pacific, as the history of it is nearly a blank; but in 
605 b. c. his army defeated Necho, king of Egypt, who had 
invaded Syria. He was succeeded by his more famous son, 
Nebuchadnezzar (604 b. c.V who was the greatest of the kings 
of Babylon." 



50 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



Jerusalem was taken by Nebuchadnezzar in the first year 
of his reign, and the third year of Jehoiakim, king of Judah 
(Dan. 1:1), b. c. 606. Nebuchadnezzar reigned two years 
conjointly with his father, Nabopolassar. From this point the 
Jews computed his reign, but the Chaldeans from the date 
of his sole reign, 601 b. c, as stated above. Respecting the 
successors of Nebuchadnezzar, the authority above quoted 
adds : — 

" He died in 561 b. c, and was succeeded by his son 
Evil-merodach, who reigned only two years. Nabonadius (or 
Labynetus), who became king in 555 b. c, formed an alliance 
with Croesus against Cyrus the Great. He appears to have 
shared the royal power with his son, Belshazzar, whose mother 
was a daughter of Nebuchadnezzar. Cyrus besieged Babylon, 
which he took by stratagem in 538 b. c, and with the death 
of Belshazzar, whom the Persians killed, the kingdom of Baby- 
lon ceased to exist." 

When we say that the image of Daniel 2 symbolizes the 
four great prophetic universal monarchies, and reckon Babylon 
as the first of these, it is asked how this can be- true, when 
every country in the world was not absolutely under the do- 
minion of any one of them. Thus Babylon never conquered 
G-recia or Rome; but Rome was founded before Babylon had 
risen to the zenith of its power. Rome's position and influ- 
ence, however, were then altogether prospective ; and it is 
nothing against the prophecy that God begins to prepare his 
agents long years before they enter upon the prominent part 
they are to perform in the fulfilment of prophecy. "We must 
place ourselves with the prophet, and view these kingdoms from 
the same standpoint. We shall then, as is right, consider his 
statements in the light of the location he occupied, the time 
in which he wrote, and the circumstances by which he was 
surrounded. It is a manifest rule of interpretation that we 
may look for nations to be noticed in prophecy when they 
become so far connected with the people of God that mention 
of them becomes necessary to make the records of sacred his- 
tory complete. When this was the case with Babylon, it was, 
from the standpoint of the prophet, the great and overtower- 



CHAPTER 2, VERSES 36 - 38 



53 



ing object in the political world. In his eye, it necessarily 
eclipsed all else ; and he would naturally speak of it as a king- 
dom having rule over all the earth. So far as we know, all 
provinces or countries against which Babylon did move in the 
height of its power, were subdued by its arms. In this sense, 
all were in its power; and this fact will explain the somewhat 
hyperbolical language of verse 38. That there were some 
portions of territory and considerable numbers of people un- 
known to history, and outside the pale of civilization as it 
then existed, which were neither discovered nor subdued, is 
not a fact of sufficient strength or importance to condemn the 
expression of the prophet, or to falsify the prophecy. 

In 606 b. c. Babylon came in contact with the people of God, 
when Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem and led Judah into 
captivity. It comes at this point, consequently, into the field 
of prophecy, at the end of the Jewish theocracy. 

The character of this empire is indicated by the nature of 
the material composing that portion of the image by which 
it was symbolized — the head of gold. It was the golden 
kingdom of a golden age. Babylon, its metropolis, towered to 
a height never reached by any of its successors. Situated in 
the garden of the East; laid out in a perfect square sixty 
miles in circumference, fifteen miles on each side; surrounded 
by a wall three hundred and fifty feet high and eighty-seven 
feet thick, with a moat, or ditch, around this, of equal cubic 
capacity with the wall itself; divided into six hundred and 
seventy-six squares, each two and a quarter miles in circum- 
ference, by its fifty streets, each one hundred and fifty feet in 
width, crossing each other at right angles, twenty-five running 
each way, every one of them straight and level and fifteen 
miles in length ; its two hundred and twenty-five square miles 
of inclosed surface, divided as just described, laid out in luxu- 
riant pleasure-grounds and gardens, interspersed with magnifi- 
cent dwellings, — this city, with its sixty miles of moat, its 
sixty miles of outer wall, its thirty miles of river wall through 
its center, its hundred and fifty gates of solid brass, its hang- 
ing gardens, rising terrace above terrace, till they equaled in 
height the walls themselves, its temple of Belus, three miles in 



54 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



circumference, its two royal palaces, one three and a half, and 
the other eight miles in circumference, with its subterranean 
tunnel under- the River Euphrates connecting these two pal- 
aces, its perfect arrangement for convenience, ornament, and 
defense, and its unlimited resources, — this city, containing in 
itself many things which were themselves wonders of the world, 
was itself another and still mightier wonder. Never before 
saw the earth a city like that; never since has it seen its 
equal. And there, with the whole earth prostrate at her feet, 
a queen in peerless grandeur, drawing from the pen of in- 
spiration itself this glowing title, " The glory of kingdoms, 
the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency," sat this city, fit capital 
of that kingdom which constituted the golden head of this 
great historic image. 

Such was Babylon, with Nebuchadnezzar, in the prime of 
life, bold, vigorous, and accomplished, seated upon its throne, 
when Daniel entered its impregnable walls to serve a captive 
for seventy years in its gorgeous palaces. There the children 
of the Lord, oppressed more than cheered by the glory and 
prosperity of the land of their captivity, hung their harps on 
the willows of the sparkling Euphrates, and wept when they 
remembered Zion. 

And there commenced the captive state of the church in a 
still broader sense; for, ever since that time, the people of 
God have been in subjection to, and more or less oppressed 
by, earthly powers. And so they will be, till all earthly 
powers shall finally yield to Him whose right it is to reign. 
And lo, that day of deliverance draws on apace. 

Into another city, not only Daniel, but all the children of 
God, from least to greatest, from lowest to highest, from first 
to last, are soon to enter; a city not merely sixty miles in cir- 
cumference, but fifteen hundred miles ; a city whose walls are 
not brick and bitumen, but precious stones and jasper; whose 
streets are not the stone-paved streets of Babylon, smooth and 
beautiful as they were, but transparent gold; whose river is 
not the mournful waters of the Euphrates, but the river of life ; 
whose music is not the sighs and laments of broken-hearted cap- 
tives, but the thrilling pseans of victory over death and the grave, 



CHAPTER 2, VERSE 39 



55 



which ransomed multitudes shall raise; whose light is not the 
intermittent light of earth, but the unceasing and ineffable 
glory of God and the Lamb. Into this city they shall enter, 
not as captives entering a foreign land, but as exiles returning 
to their father's house; not as to a place where such chilling 
words as " bondage," " servitude," and " oppression," shall 
weigh down their spirits, but to one where the sweet words, 
" home," " freedom," " peace," " purity," " unutterable bliss," 
and " unending life," shall thrill their bosoms with delight 
forever and ever. Yea; our mouths shall be filled with 
laughter, and our tongue with singing, when the Lord shall 
turn again the captivity of Zion. Ps. 126 : 1, 2 ; Kev. 21 : 1 - 27. 

Verse 39. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to 
thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over 
all the earth. 

Nebuchadnezzar reigned forty-three years, and was suc- 
ceeded by the following rulers : Llis son, Evil-merodach, two 
years ; Neriglissar, his son-in-law, four years ; Laborosoarchod, 
Neriglissar's son, nine months, which, being less than one 
year, is not counted in the canon of Ptolemy; and lastly, 
Nabonadius, whose son, Belshazzar, grandson of Nebuchad- 
nezzar, was associated with him on the throne, and with whom 
that kingdom came to an end. 

In the first year of Neriglissar, only two years after the 
death of Nebuchadnezzar, broke out that fatal war between 
the Babylonians and the Medes, which was to result in the 
utter subversion of the Babylonian kingdom. Cyaxares, king 
of the Medes, who is called " Darius " in Dan. 5 : 31, sum- 
moned to his aid his nephew, Cyrus, of the Persian line, in his 
efforts against the Babylonians. The war was prosecuted with 
uninterrupted success on the part of the Medes and Persians, 
until, in the eighteenth year of Nabonadius (the third year of 
his son Belshazzar), Cyrus laid siege to Babylon, the only city 
in all the East which then held out against him. The Baby- 
lonians, gathered within their impregnable Avails, with provi- 
sion on hand for twenty years, and land within the limits of 
their broad city sufficient to furnish food for the inhabitants 



56 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



and garrison for an indefinite period, scoffed at Cyrus from 
their lofty walls, and derided his seemingly useless efforts to 
bring them into subjection. And according to all human cal- 
culation, they had good ground for their feelings of security. 
Never, weighed in the balance of any earthly probability, with 
the means of warfare then known, could that city be taken. 
Hence, they breathed as freely and slept as soundly as though 
no foe were waiting and watching for their destruction around 
their beleaguered walls. But God had decreed that the proud 
and wicked city should come down from her throne of glory; 
and when he speaks, what mortal arm can defeat his word? 

In their very feeling of security lay the source of their 
danger. Cyrus resolved to accomplish by stratagem what he 
could not effect by force ; and learning of the approach of an 
annual festival, in which the whole city would be given up 
to mirth and revelry, he fixed upon that day as the time to 
carry his purpose into execution. There was no entrance for 
him into that city except he could find it where the Eiver 
Euphrates entered and emerged, passing under its walls. He 
resolved to make the channel of the river his own highway into 
the stronghold of his enemy. To do this, the water must be 
turned aside from its channel through the city. For this pur- 
pose, on the evening of the feast-day above referred to, he 
detailed three bodies of soldiers, the first, to turn the river at 
a given hour into a large artificial lake a short distance above 
the city; the second, to take their station at the point where 
the river entered the city; the third to take a position fifteen 
miles below, where the river emerged from the city; and these 
two latter parties were instructed to enter the channel, just 
as soon as they found the river fordable, and in the darkness 
of the night explore their way beneath the walls, and press on 
to the palace of the king, where they were to meet, surprise the 
palace, slay the guards, and capture or slay the king. When 
the water was turned into the lake mentioned above, the river 
soon became fordable, and the soldiers detailed for that purpose 
followed its channel into the heart of the city of Babylon. 

But all this would have been in vain, had not the whole 
city, on that eventful night, given themselves over to the most 




BABYLON TAKEN BY THE MEDO-PERSIANS 



CHAPTER 2, TERSE 39 



59 



reckless carelessness- and presumption, a state of things upon 
which Cyrus calculated largely for the carrying out of his 
purpose. For on each side of the river, through the entire 
length of the city, were walls of great height, and of equal 
thickness with the outer walls. In these walls were huge 
gates of solid brass, which when closed and guarded, debarred 
all entrance from the river-bed to any and all of the twenty- 
five streets that crossed the river; and had they been thus 
closed at this time, the soldiers of Cyrus might have marched 
into the city along the river-bed, and then marched out again, 
for all that they would have been able to accomplish toward 
the subjugation of the place. But in the drunken revelry of 
that fatal night, these river gates were all left open, and the 
entrance of the Persian soldiers was not perceived. Many a 
cheek would have paled with terror, had they noticed the sud- 
den going down of the river, and understood its fearful import. 
Many a tongue would have spread wild alarm through the city, 
had they seen the dark forms of their armed foes stealthily 
treading their way to the citadel of their strength. But no one- 
noticed the sudden subsidence of the waters of the river ; no one 
saw the entrance of the Persian warriors ; no one took care 
that the river gates should be closed and guarded; no one 
cared for aught but to see how deeply and recklessly he could 
plunge into the wild debauch. That night's work cost them 
their kingdom and their freedom. They went into their brut- 
ish revelry subjects of the king of Babylon ; they awoke from 
it slaves to the king of Persia. 

The soldiers of Cyrus first made known their presence in 
the city by falling upon the royal guards in the very vestibule 
of the palace of the king. Belshazzar soon became aware of 
the cause of the disturbance, and died vainly fighting for his 
imperiled life. This feast of Belshazzar is described in the 
fifth chapter of Daniel; and the scene closes with the simple 
record, " In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chal- 
deans slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being 
about threescore and two years old." 

Thus the first division of the great image was completed. 
Another kingdom had arisen, as the prophet had declared. 



60 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



The first instalment of the prophetic dream was fulfilled. 

But before we take leave of Babylon, let us glance forward 
to the end of its thenceforth melancholy history. It would 
naturally be supposed that the conqueror, becoming possessed 
of so noble a city, far surpassing anything in the world, would 
have taken it as the seat of his empire, and maintained it in its 
primitive splendor. But God had said that that city should 
become a heap, and the habitation of the beasts of the desert; 
that their houses should be full of doleful creatures; that the 
wild beasts of the islands should cry in their desolate dwellings, 
and dragons in their pleasant palaces. Isa. 13 : 19 - 22. It 
must first be deserted. Cyrus removed the imperial seat to 
Susa, a celebrated city in the province of Elam, east from 
Babylon, on the banks of the River Choaspes, a branch of the 
Tigris. This was probably done, says Prideaux (i. ISO), in 
the first year of his sole reign. The pride of the Babylonians 
being particularly provoked by this act, in the fifth year of 
Darius Hystaspes, b. c. 517, they rose in rebellion, which 
brought upon themselves again the whole strength of the Per- 
sian empire. The city was once more taken by stratagem. 
Zopyrus, one of the chief commanders of Darius, having cut 
off his own nose and ears, and mangled his body all over with 
stripes, fled in this condition to the besieged, apparently burn- 
ing with desire to be revenged on Darius for his great cruelty 
in thus mutilating him. In this way he won the confidence of 
the Babylonians till they at length made him chief commander 
of their forces ; whereupon he betrayed the city into the hands 
of his master. And that they might ever after be deterred 
from rebellion, Darius impaled three thousand of those who 
had been most active in the revolt, took away the brazen gates 
of the city, and beat down the walls from two hundred cubits 
to fifty cubits. This was the commencement of its destruction. 
By this act, it was left exposed to the ravages of every hostile 
band. Xerxes, on his return from Greece, plundered the tem- 
ple of Belus of its immense wealth, and then laid the lofty 
structure in ruins. Alexander the Great endeavored to rebuild 
it ; but after employing ten thousand men two months to clear 
away the rubbish, he died from excessive drunkenness and de- 



CHAPTER 2, VERSE 39 



63 



bauchery, and the work was suspended. In the year 294 b. c, 
Seleucus Nicator built the city of New Babylon in its neighbor- 
hood, and took much of the material and many of the inhabit- 
ants of the old city, to build up and people the new. Now 
almost exhausted of inhabitants, neglect and decay were telling 
fearfully upon the ancient city. The violence of Parthian 
princes hastened its ruin. About the end of the fourth century, 
it was used by the Persian kings • as an enclosure for wild 
beasts. At the end of the' twelfth century, according to a 
celebrated traveler, the few remaining ruins of Nebuchadnez- 
zar's palace were so full of serpents and venomous reptiles that 
they could not, without great danger, be closely inspected. 
And to-day scarcely enough even of the ruins is left to mark 
the spot where once stood the largest, richest, and proudest 
city the world has ever seen. Thus the ruin of great Babylon 
shows us how accurately God will fulfil his word, and make 
the doubts of skepticism appear like wilful blindness. 

"And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to 
thee." The use of the word kingdom here, shows that king- 
doms, and not particular kings, are represented by the different 
parts of this image; and hence when it was said to Nebu- 
chadnezzar, " Thou art this head of gold," although the per- 
sonal pronoun was used, the kingdom, not the person of the 
king, was meant. 

The succeeding kingdom, Medo-Persia, is the one which 
answers to the breast and arms of silver of the great image. 
It was to be inferior to the preceding kingdom. In what re- 
spect inferior ? Not in power ; for it was its conqueror. Not 
in extent; for Cyrus subdued all the East from the zEgean 
Sea to the River Indus, and thus erected the most extensive 
empire that up to that time had ever existed. But it was 
inferior in wealth, luxury, and magnificence. 

Viewed from a Scriptural standpoint, the principal event 
under the Babylonish empire was the captivity of the children 
of Israel ; so the principal event under the Me do-Persian king- 
dom was the restoration of Israel to their own land. At the 
taking of Babylon, b. c. 538, Cyrus, as an act of courtesy, 
assigned the first place in the kingdom to his uncle, Darius. 



64 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



But, two years afterward, b. c. 536, Darius died; and in the 
same year also died Cambyses, king of Persia, Cyrus's father. 
By these events, Cyrus was left sole monarch of the whole 
empire. In this year, which closed IsraePs seventy years of 
captivity, Cyrus issued his famous decree for the return of the 
Jews and the rebuilding of their temple. This was the first 
instalment of the great decree for the restoration and building 
again of Jerusalem (Ezra 6: 14), which was completed in the 
seventh year of the reign of Artaxerxes, b. c. 457, and marked, 
as will hereafter be shown, the commencement of the 2300 
days of Daniel 8, the longest and most important prophetic 
period mentioned in the Bible. Dan. 9:25. 

After a reign of seven years, Cyrus left the kingdom to his 
son Cambyses, called Ahasuerus in Ezra 4 : 6, who reigned 
seven years and five months, to b. c. 522. Eight monarchs 
whose reigns varied from seven months to forty-six years each, 
took the throne in order till the year b. c. 336, as follows: 
Smerdis the Magian, called Artaxerxes in Ezra 4 : 7, seven 
months, in the year b. o. 522 ; Darius Hystaspes, from b. c. 
521 to 486; Xerxes, from b. c. 485 to 465; Artaxerxes Lon- 
gimanus, from b. c. 464 to 424 ; Darius Nothus, from b. c. 423 
to 405 ; Artaxerxes Mnemon, from b. c. 404 to 359 ; Ochus. 
from b. c. 358 to 338 ; Arses, from b. c. 337 to 336. The year 
335 is set down as the first of Darius Codomanus, the last of 
the line of the old Persian kings. This man, according to 
Prideaux, was of noble stature, of goodly person, of the great- 
est personal valor, and of a mild and generous disposition. 
Had he lived at any other age, a long and splendid career 
would undoubtedly have been his. But it was his ill-fortune 
to have to contend with one who was an agent in the fulfilment 
of prophecy; and no qualifications, natural or acquired, could 
render him successful in the unequal contest. Scarcely was he 
warm upon the throne, says the last-named historian, ere he 
found his formidable enemy, Alexander, at the head of the 
Greek soldiers, preparing to dismount him from it. 

The cause and particulars of the contest between the Greeks 
and Persians we leave to histories specially devoted to such 
matters. Suffice it here to say that the deciding point was 



CHAPTER 2, VERSE 39 



65 



reached on the field of Arbela, b. c. 331, in which the Grecians, 
though only one to twenty in number as compared with the 
Persians, were entirely victorious; and Alexander thenceforth 
became absolute lord of the Persian empire to the utmost ex- 
tent that it was ever possessed by any of its own kings. 

"And another third kingdom of brass shall bear rule over 
all the earth," said the prophet. So few and brief are the 
inspired words which involved in their fulfilment a change of 
the world's- rulers. In the ever-changing political kaleidoscope, 
Grecia now comes into the field of vision, to be, for a time, the 
all-absorbing object of attention, as the third of what are called 
the great universal empires of the earth. 

After the fatal battle which decided the fate of the empire, 
Darius still endeavored to rally the shattered remnants of his 
army, and make a stand for his kingdom and his rights. But 
he could not gather, out of all the host of his recently so nu- 
merous and well-appointed army, a force with which he deemed 
it prudent to hazard another engagement with the victorious 
Grecians. Alexander pursued him on the wings of the wind. 
Time after time did Darius barely elude the grasp of his swiftly 
following foe. At length two traitors, Bessus and ^sTabarzanes, 
seized the unfortunate prince, shut him up in a close cart, and 
fled with him as their prisoner toward Bactria. It was their 
purpose, if Alexander' pursued them, to purchase their own 
safety by delivering up their king. Hereupon Alexander, 
learning of Darius's dangerous position in the hands of the 
traitors, immediately put himself with the lightest part of his 
army upon a forced pursuit. After several days' hard march, 
he came up with the traitors. They urged Darius to mount on 
horseback for a more speedy flight. Upon his refusing to do 
this, they gave him several mortal wounds, and left him dying 
in his cart, while they mounted their steeds and rode away. 

When Alexander came up, he beheld only the lifeless form 
of the Persian king. As he gazed upon the corpse, he might 
have learned a profitable lesson of the instability of human 
fortune. Here was a man who but a few months before, 
possessing many noble and generous qualities, was seated upon 
the throne of universal empire. Disaster, overthrow, and de- 



66 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



sertion had come suddenly upon him. His kingdom had been 
conquered, his treasure seized, and his family reduced to cap- 
tivity. And now, brutally slain by the hand of traitors, he 
lay a bloody corpse in a rude cart. The sight of the melan- 
choly spectacle drew tears even from the eyes of Alexander, 
familiar though he was with all the horrible vicissitudes and 
bloody scenes of war. Throwing his cloak over the body, he 
commanded it to be conveyed to the captive ladies of Susa, 
himself furnishing the necessary means for a royal funeral. 
For this generous act let us give him credit; for he stands 
sadly in need of all that is his due. 

When Darius fell, Alexander saw the field cleared of his 
last formidable foe. Thenceforward he could spend his time 
in his own manner, now in the enjoyment of rest and pleasure, 
and again in the prosecution of some minor conquest. He 
entered upon a pompous campaign into India, because, accord- 
ing to Grecian fable, Bacchus and Hercules, two sons of Jupi- 
ter, whose son he also claimed to be, had done the same. With 
contemptible arrogance, he claimed for himself divine honors. 
He gave up conquered cities, freely and unprovoked, to the 
absolute mercy of his blood-thirsty and licentious soldiery. 
He himself often murdered his own friends and favorites in 
his drunken frenzies. He sought out the vilest persons for 
the gratification of his lust. At the instigation of a dissolute 
and drunken woman, he, with a company of his courtiers, all 
in a state of frenzied intoxication, sallied out, torch in hand, 
and fired the city and palace of Persepolis, one of the then 
finest palaces in the world. He encouraged such excessive 
drinking among his followers that on one occasion twenty of 
them together died as the result of their carousal. At length, 
having sat through one long drinking spree, he was immediately 
invited to another, wh^n, after drinking to each of the twenty 
guests present, he twice drank full, says history, incredible 
as it may seem, the Herculean cup containing six of our quarts. 
He thereupon fell down, seized with a violent fever, of which 
he died eleven days later, in May or June, b. c. 323, while 
yet he stood only at the threshold of mature life, in the thirty- 
second year of his age. 




5 



CHAPTER 2, VERSE 40 



69 



The progress of the Grecian empire we need not stop to 
trace here, since its distinguishing features will claim more 
particular notice under other prophecies. Daniel thus con- 
tinues in his interpretation of the great image : — 

Verse 40. And the fourth kingdom s.hall be strong as iron; foras- 
much as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things ; and as iron 
that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. 

Thus far in the application of this prophecy there is a gen- 
eral agreement among expositors. That Babylon, Medo-Persia, 
and Grecia are represented respectively by the head of gold, the 
breast and arms of silver, and the sides of brass, is acknowl- 
edged by all. But with just as little ground for a diversity of 
views, there is strangely a difference of opinion as to what 
kingdom is symbolized by the fourth division of the great 
image, — ■ the legs of iron. On this point we have only to in- 
quire, What kingdom did succeed Grecia in the empire of the 
world ? for the legs of iron denote the fourth kingdom in the 
series. The testimony of history is full and explicit on this 
point. One kingdom did this, and one only, and that was 
Eome. It conquered Grecia ; it subdued all things ; like iron, 
it broke in pieces and bruised. Gibbon, following the sym- 
bolic imagery of Daniel, thus describes this empire: — 

" The arms of the Republic, sometimes vanquished in bat- 
tle, always victorious in war, advanced with rapid steps to the 
Euphrates, the Danube, the Rhine, and the ocean; and the 
images of gold, or silver, or brass, that might serve to represent 
the nations or their kings, were successively broken by the iron 
monarchy of Rome." 

At the opening of the Christian era, this empire took in the 
whole south of Europe, France, England, the greater part of 
the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the south of Germany, 
Hungary, Turkey, and Greece, not to speak of its possessions 
in Asia and Africa. Well, therefore, may Gibbon say of it : — 

" The empire of the Romans filled the world. And when 
that empire fell into the hands of a single person, the world 
became a safe and dreary prison for his enemies. To resist 
was fatal; and it was impossible to fly." 



TO 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



It will be noticed that at first the kingdom is described un- 
qualifiedly as strong as iron. And this was the period of its 
strength, during which it has been likened to a mighty Colos- 
sus, bestriding the nations, conquering everything, and giving 
laws to the world. But this was not to continue. 

Verse 41. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of pot- 
ters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there 
shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest 
the iron mixed with miry clay. 42. And as the toes of the feet were 
part of iron, and- part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, 
and partly broken. 

The element of weakness symbolized by the clay, pertained 
to the feet as well as to the toes. Rome, before its division 
into ten kingdoms, lost that iron tenacity which it possessed to 
a superlative degree during the first centuries of its career. 
Luxury, with its accompanying effeminacy and degeneracy, the 
destroyer of nations as well as of individuals, began to corrode 
and weaken its iron sinews, and thus prepared the way for its 
subsequent disruption into ten kingdoms. 

The iron legs of the image terminate, to maintain the con- 
sistency of the figure, in feet and toes. To the toes, of which 
there were of course just ten, our attention is called by the 
explicit mention of them in the prophecy; and the kingdom 
represented by that portion of the image to which the toes 
belonged, was finally divided into ten parts. The question 
therefore naturally arises, Do the ten toes of the image repre- 
sent the ten final divisions of the Roman empire ? To those 
who prefer what seems to be a natural and straightforward 
interpretation of the word of God, it is a matter of no little 
astonishment that any question should here be raised. To take 
the ten toes to represent the ten kingdoms into which Rome was 
divided seems like such an easy, consistent, and matter-of-course 
procedure, that it requires a labored effort to interpret it other- 
wise. Yet such an effort is made by some — by Romanists 
universally, and by such Protestants as still cling to Romish 
errors. 

A volume by H. Cowles, D. D., may perhaps best be taken 
as a representative exposition on this side of the question. 



CHAPTER 2, VERSES 41, J,2 



11 



The writer gives every evidence of extensive erudition and 
great ability. It is the more to be regretted, therefore, that 
these powers are devoted to the propagation of error, and to 
misleading the anxious inquirer who wishes to know his where- 
abouts on the great highway of time. 

We can but briefly notice his positions. They are, (1) 
That the third kingdom was Grecia during the lifetime of 
Alexander only; (2) That the fourth kingdom was Alexan- 
der's successors; (3) That the latest point to which the fourth 
kingdom could extend, is the manifestation of the Messiah; 
for (4) There the God of heaven set up his kingdom; there 
the stone smote the image upon its feet, and commenced the 
process of grinding it up. 

Nor can we reply at any great length to these positions. 

1. We might as well confine the Babylonian empire to the 
single reign of Nebuchadnezzar, or that of Persia to the reign 
of Cyrus, as to confine the third kingdom, Grecia, to the reign 
of Alexander. 

2. Alexander's successors did not constitute another king- 
dom, but a continuation of the same, the Grecian kingdom of 
the image ; for in this line of prophecy the succession of king- 
doms is by conquest. When Persia had conquered Babylon, 
we had the second empire; and when Grecia had conquered 
Persia, we had the third. But Alexander's successors (his 
four leading generals) did not conquer his empire, and erect 
another in its place ; they simply divided among themselves 
the empire which Alexander had conquered, and left ready to 
their hand. 

" Chronologically," says Professor C, " the fourth empire 
must immediately succeed Alexander, and lie entirely between 
him and the birth of Christ." Chronologically, we reply, it 
must do no such thing; for the birth of Christ was not the 
introduction of the fifth kingdom,' as will in due time appear. 
Here he overlooks almost the entire duration of the third di- 
vision of the image, confounding it with the fourth, and giving 
no room for the divided state of the Grecian empire as sym- 
bolized by the four heads of the leopard of chapter 7, and 
the four horns of the goat of chapter 8. 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



" Territorially/' continues Professor C, " it [the fourth 
kingdom] should be sought in Western Asia, not in Europe; 
in general, on the same territory where the first, second, and 
third kingdoms stood." Why not Europe ? we ask. Each 
of the first three kingdoms possessed territory which was pecul- 
iarly its own. Why not the fourth ? Analogy requires that 
it should. And was not the third kingdom a European king- 
dom ? that is, did it not rise on European territory, and take 
its name from the land of its birth ? Why not, then, go a 
degree farther west for the place where the fourth great king- 
dom should be founded ? And how did Grecia ever occupy 
the territory of the first and second kingdoms ? — Only by 
conquest. And Rome did the same. Hence, so far as the 
territorial requirements of the professor's theory are concerned, 
Rome could be the fourth kingdom as truthfully as Grecia 
could be the third. 

" Politically," he adds, " it should be the immediate suc- 
cessor of Alexander's empire, . . . changing the dynasty, but 
not the nations." Analogy is against him here. Each of 
the first three kingdoms was distinguished by its own peculiar 
nationality. The Persian was not the same as the Babylonian, 
nor the Grecian the same as either of the two that preceded 
it. Now analogy requires that the fourth kingdom, instead of 
being composed of a fragment of this Grecian empire, should 
possess a nationality of its own, distinct from the other three. 
And this we find in the Roman kingdom, and in it alone. But, 

3. The grand fallacy which underlies this whole system of 
misinterpretation, is the too commonly taught theory that the 
kingdom of God was set up at the first advent of Christ. It 
can easily be seen how fatal to this theory is the admission that 
the fourth empire is Rome. For it was to be after the division 
of that fourth empire, that the God of heaven was to set up his 
kingdom. But the division of the Roman empire into ten parts 
was not accomplished previous to a. d. 476 ; consequently the 
kingdom of God could not have been set up at the first advent 
of Christ, nearly five hundred years before that date. Rome 
must not, therefore, from their standpoint, though it answers 
admirably to the prophecy in every particular, be allowed to 



CHAPTER 2, VERSES 42 



73 



be the kingdom in question. The position that the kingdom 
of God was set up in the days when Christ was upon earth, 
must, these interpreters seem to think, be maintained at all 
hazards. 

Such is the ground on which some expositors appear, at 
least, to reason. And it is for the purpose of maintaining this 
theory that our author dwindles down the third great empire 
of the world to the insignificant period of about eight years ! 
For this, he endeavors to prove that the fourth universal em- 
pire was bearing full sway during a period when the providence 
of God was simply filling up the outlines of the third! For 
this, he presumes to fix the points of time between which we 
must look for the fourth, though the prophecy does not deal 
in dates at all, and then whatever kingdom he finds within 
his specified time, that he sets down as the fourth kingdom, 
and endeavors to bend the prophecy to fit his interpretation, 
utterly regardless of how much better material he might find 
outside of his little inclosure, to answer to a fulfilment of 
the prophetic record. Is such a course logical? Is the time 
the point to be first established ? — No ; the kingdoms are the 
great features of the prophecy, and we are to look for them ; 
and when we find them, we must accept them, whatever may 
be the chronology or location. Let them govern the time and 
place, not the time and place govern them. 

But that view which is the cause of all this misapplication 
and confusion is sheer assumption. Christ did not smite the 
image at his first advent. Look at it ! When the stone smites 
the image upon its feet, the image is dashed in pieces. Vio- 
lence is used. The effect is immediate. The image becomes 
as chaff. And then what ? Is it absorbed by the stone, and 
gradually incorporated with it ? — Nothing of the kind. It is 
blown off, removed away, as incompatible and unavailable ma- 
terial; and no place is found for it. The territory is entirely 
cleared; and then the stone becomes a mountain, and fills the 
whole earth. Now what idea shall we attach to this work of 
smiting and breaking in pieces ? Is it a gentle, peaceful, and 
quiet work ? or is it a manifestation of vengeance and violence ? 
How did the kingdoms of the prophecy succeed the one to the 



74 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



other ? — It was through the violence and din of war, the shock 
of armies and the roar of battle. " Confused noise and gar- 
ments rolled in blood/' told of the force and violence with 
which one nation had been brought into subjection to another. 
Yet all this is not called " smiting " or " breaking in pieces." 

When Persia conquered Babylon, and Greece Persia, neither 
of the conquered empires is said to have been broken in pieces, 
though crushed beneath the overwhelming power of a hostile 
nation. But when we reach the introduction of the fifth king- 
dom, the image is smitten with violence ; it is dashed to pieces, 
and so scattered and obliterated that no place is found for it. 
And now what shall we understand by this ? — We must under- 
stand that here a scene transpires in which is manifested so 
much more violence and force and power than accompany the 
overthrow of one nation by another through the strife of war, 
that the latter is not worthy even of mention in connection 
with it. The subjugation of one nation by another by war, 
is a scene of peace and quietude in comparison with that which 
transpires when the image is dashed in pieces by the stone 
cut out of the mountain without hands. 

Yet what is the smiting of the image made to mean by the 
theory under notice ? — ■ Oh, the peaceful introduction of the 
gospel of Christ ! the quiet spreading abroad of the light of 
truth ! the gathering out of a few from the nations of the 
earth, to be made ready through obedience to the truth, for 
his second coming, and reign ! the calm and unpretending 
formation of a Christian church, — a church that has been 
domineered over, persecuted, and oppressed by the arrogant 
and triumphant powers of earth from that day to this ! And 
this is the smiting of the image ! this is the breaking of it 
into pieces, and violently removing the shattered fragments 
from the face of the earth ! Was ever absurdity more absurd ? 

From this digression we return to the inquiry, Do the toes 
represent the ten divisions of the Roman empire ? We answer, 
Yes ; because, — 

1. The image of chapter 2 is exactly parallel with the 
vision of the four beasts of chapter 7. The fourth beast of 
chapter 7 represents the same as the iron legs of the image. 



CHAPTER 2, VERSES hi, 4-2 75 

The ten horns of the beast, of course, correspond very naturally 
to the ten toes of the image ; and these horns are plainly de- 
clared to be ten kings which should arise; and they are just 
as much independent kingdoms as are the beasts themselves; 
for the beasts are spoken of in precisely the same manner ; 
namely, as " four kings which should arise.'' Verse 17. They 
do not denote a line of , successive kings, but kings or king- 
doms which exist contemporaneously; for three of them were 
plucked up by the little horn. The ten horns, beyond contro- 
versy, represent the ten kingdoms into which Rome was divided. 

2. AYe have seen that in Daniel's interpretation of the 
image he uses the words Jcing and kingdom interchangeably, 
the former denoting the same as the latter. In verse 44 he 
says that " in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven 
set up a kingdom." This shows that at the time the king- 
dom of God is set up, there will be a plurality of kings existing 
contemporaneously. It cannot refer to the four preceding 
kingdoms ; for it would be absurd to use such language in 
reference to a line of successive kings, since it would be in 
the days of the last king only, not in the days of any of the 
preceding, that the kingdom of God would be set up. 

Here, then, is a division presented; and what have we^in 
the symbol to indicate it ? — Nothing but the toes of the image. 
Unless they do it, we are left utterly in the dark as to the 
nature and extent of the division which the prophecy shows 
did exist. To suppose this would be to cast a serious impu- 
tation upon the prophecy itself. We are therefore held to 
the conclusion that the ten toes of the image denote the ten 
parts into which the Roman empire was divided. 1 



1 This division was accomplished between the years A. D. 351 and A. D. 483. 
The era of this dissolution thus covered almost a hundred and fifty years, from 
about the middle of the fourth century to near the close of the fifth. No his- 
torians of whom we are aware, place the beginning of this work of the dismem- 
berment of the Roman empire earlier than A. D. 351, and none assign its close 
to a later date than A. D. 483. Concerning the intermediate dates, that is, the 
precise time from which each of the ten kingdoms that arose on the ruins of the 
Roman empire is to be dated, there is some difference of views among historians. 
Nor does this seem strange, when we consider that there was an era of great con- 
fusion, that the map of the Roman empire during that time underwent many 
sudden and violent changes, and that the paths of hostile nations charging upon 
its territory, crossed and recrossed each other in a labyrinth of confusion. But 
all historians agree in this, that out of the territory of Western Rome, ten sep- 
arate kingdoms were ultimately established, and we may safely assign them to 
the time between the extreme dates above named; namely, A. D. 351 and 483. 

The ten nations which were most instrumental in breaking up the Roman 
empire, and which at some time in their history held respectively portions of 



76 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



As an objection to the view that the ten toes of the image 
denote the ten kingdoms, we are sometimes reminded that 
Rome, before its division into ten kingdoms, was divided into 
two parts, the Western and Eastern empires, corresponding to 
the two legs of the image ; and as the ten kingdoms all arose 
ont of the western division, if they are denoted by the toes, 
we would have, it is claimed, ten toes on one foot of the 
image, and none on the other; which wonld be unnatural and 
inconsistent. 

But this objection devours itself; for certainly if the two 
legs denote division, the toes must denote division also. It 
would be inconsistent to say that the legs symbolize division, 
but the toes do not. But if the toes do indicate division at 
all, it can be nothing but the division of Rome into ten parts. 

The fallacy, howwer, which forms the basis of this objec- 
tion, is the view that the two legs of the image do signify the 
separation of the Roman empire into its eastern and western 
divisions. To this view there are several objections. 

1. The two legs of iron symbolize Rome, not merely during 
its closing years, but from the very beginning of its existence 
as a nation; and if these legs denote division, the kingdom 
should have been divided from the very commencement of its 
history. This claim is sustained by the other symbols. Thus 
the division (that is, the two elements) of the Persian kingdom, 
denoted by the two horns of the ram (Dan. 8 : 20), also by the 
elevation of the bear upon one side (Dan. 7:5), and perhaps 
by the two arms of the image of this chapter, existed from the 
first. The division of the Grecian kingdom, denoted by the 
four horns of the goat and the four heads of the leopard, dates 
back to within eight years of the time when it was introduced 
into prophecy. So Rome should have been divided from the 
first, if the legs denote division, instead of remaining a unit 
for nearly six hundred years, and separating into its eastern 

Roman territory as separate and independent kingdoms, may be enumerated (with- 
out respect to the time of their establishment) as follows: The Huns, Ostrogoths, 
Visigoths, Franks, Vandals, Suevi, Burgundians, Heruli, Anglo-Saxons, and Lom- 
bards. The connection between these and some of the modern nations of Europe, 
is still traceable in the names, as England, Burgundy, Lombardy, France, etc. Such 
authorities as Calmet, Faber, Lloyd, Hales, Scott, Barnes, etc., concur in the fore- 
going enumeration. (See Barnes's concluding notes on Daniel 7.) 



CHAPTER 2, VERSES tf, J,2 



77 



and western divisions only a few years prior to its final dis- 
ruption into ten kingdoms. 

2. No such division into two great parts is denoted by the 
other symbols under which Rome is represented in the book of 
Daniel ; namely, the great and terrible beast of Daniel 7, and 
the little horn of chapter 8. Hence it is reasonable to conclude 
that the two legs of the image were not designed to represent 
such a division. 

But it may be asked, Why not suppose the two legs to 
denote division as well as the toes ? Would it not be just as 
inconsistent to say that the toes denote division, and the legs 
do not, as to say that the legs denote division, and the toes do 
not ? We answer that the prophecy itself must govern our 
conclusions in this matter; and whereas it says nothing of 
division in connection with the legs, it does introduce the sub- 
ject of division as we come down to the feet and toes. It says, 
"And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' 
clay and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided." No 
division could take place, or at least none is said to have taken 
place, till the weakening element of the clay is introduced; 
and we do not find this till we come to the feet and toes. But 
we are not to understand that the clay denotes one division and 
the iron the other ; for after the long-existing unity of the king- 
dom was broken, no one of the fragments was as strong as the 
original iron, but all were in a state of weakness denoted by 
the mixture of iron and clay. The conclusion is inevitable, 
therefore, that the prophet has here stated the cause for the 
effect. The introduction of the weakness of the clay element, 
as we come to the feet, resulted in the division of the kingdom 
into ten parts, as represented by the ten toes; and this result, 
or division, is more than intimated in the sudden mention 
of a plurality of contemporaneous kings. Therefore, while 
we find no evidence that the legs denote division, but serious 
objections against such a view, we do find, we think, good 
reason for supposing that the toes denote division, as here 
claimed. 

3. Each of the four monarchies had its own particular ter- 
ritory, which was the kingdom proper, and where we are to 



78 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



look for the chief events in its history shadowed forth by the 
symbol. We are not, therefore, to look for the divisions of the 
Roman empire in the territory formerly occnpied by Babylon, 
or Persia, or Grecia, but in the territory proper of the Roman 
kingdom, which was what was finally known as the Western 
empire. Rome conquered the world ; bnt the kingdom of 
Rome proper lay west of Grecia. That is what was repre- 
sented by the legs of iron. There, then, we look for the ten 
kingdoms; and there we find them. We are not obliged to 
mutilate or deform the symbol to make it a fit and accurate 
representation of historical events. 

Verse 43. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, 
they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men ; but they shall not 
cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. 

With Rome fell the last of the universal empires belonging 
to the world in its present state. Heretofore the elements of 
society had been such that it was possible for one nation, rising 
superior to its neighbors in prowess, bravery, and the science 
of war, to attach them one after another to its chariot wheels 
till all were consolidated into one vast empire, and one man 
seated upon the dominant throne could send forth his will as 
law to all the nations of the earth. When Rome fell, such pos- 
sibilities forever passed away. Crushed beneath the weight 
of its own vast proportions, it crumbled to pieces, never to be 
united again. The iron was mixed with the clay. Its ele- 
ments lost the power of cohesion, and no man or combination of 
men can again consolidate them. This point is so well set forth 
by another that we take pleasure in quoting his words: — 

" From this, its divided state, the first strength of the em- 
pire departed; but not as that of the others had done. No 
other kingdom was to succeed it, as it had the three which 
went before it. It was to continue in this tenfold division, 
until the kingdom of stone smote it upon its feet, broke them 
in pieces, and scattered them as the wind does the chaff of the 
summer threshing-floor ! Yet, through all this time, a portion 
of its strength was to remain. And so the prcphet says, 'And 
as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, 
so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.' 




MAP SHOWING TERRITORY COVERED BY THE FOUR UNIVERSAL 

KINGDOMS 



CHAPTER 2, VERSE J>3 



81 



Verse 42. How in any other way could you so strikingly 
represent the facts ? For more than fourteen hundred years, 
this tenfold division has existed. Time and again men have 
dreamed of rearing on these dominions one mighty kingdom. 
Charlemagne tried it. Charles V tried it. Louis XIV tried 
it. Napoleon tried it. But none succeeded. A single verse 
of prophecy was stronger than all their hosts. Their own 
power was wasted, frittered away, destroyed. But the ten 
kingdoms did not become one. ' Partly strong, and partly 
broken/ was the prophetic description. And such, too, has 
been the historic fact concerning them. With the book of 
history open before you, I ask you, Is not this an exact repre- 
sentation of the remnants of this once mighty empire \ It 
ruled with unlimited power. It was the throned mistress of the 
world. Its scepter was broken; its throne pulled down; its 
power taken away. Ten kingdoms were formed out of it; 
and ' broken ' as then it was, it still continues ; i. e., i partly 
broken ; ' for its dimensions still continue as when the kingdom 
of iron stood upright upon its feet. And then it is ' partly 
strong; ' i. e. } it retains, even in its broken state, enough of 
its iron strength to resist all attempts to mold its parts to- 
gether. ' This shall not be,' says the word of God. ' This 
has not been,' replies the book of history. 

" ' But then,' men may say, ' another plan remains. If 
force cannot avail, diplomacy and reasons of state may; we 
will try them.' And so the prophecy foreshadows this when it 
says, ' They shall mingle themselves with the seed of men ; ' 
i. e., marriages shall be formed, in hope thus to consolidate 
their power, and, in the end, to unite these divided kingdoms 
into one. 

"And shall this device succeed ? — No. The prophet an- 
swers : ' They shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is 
riot mixed with clay.' And the history of Europe is but a 
running commentary on the exact fulfilment of these words. 
From the time of Canute to the present age, it has been the 
policy of reigning monarchs, the beaten path which they have 
trodden in order to reach a mightier scepter and a wider sway. 
And the most signal instance of it which history has recorded 



82 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



in our own day, is in the case of Napoleon. He ruled in one 
of the kingdoms. . . . He sought to gain by alliance what he 
could not gain by force; i. e., to build up one mighty, con- 
solidated empire. And did he succeed % — Nay. The very 
power with which he was allied, proved his destruction, in the 
troops of Blucher, on the field of Waterloo ! The iron would 
not mingle with clay. The ten kingdoms continue still. 

"And yet, if as the result of these alliances or of other 
causes, that number is sometimes disturbed, it need not sur- 
prise us. It is, indeed, just what the prophecy seems to call 
for. The iron was i mixed with the clay. 7 ■ For a season, in 
the image, you might not distinguish between them. But they 
would not remain so. i They shall not cleave one to another.' 
The nature of the substances forbids them to do so in the one 
case ; the word of prophecy in the other. Yet there was to be 
an attempt to mingle — nay, more, there was an approach to 
mingling in both cases. But it was to be abortive. And how 
marked the emphasis with which history affirms this declara- 
tion of the word of God ! " — Wm. Newton, Lectures on the 
First Two Visions of the Booh of Daniel, pp. 3J^ - 36. 

Yet with all these facts before them, asserting the irresist- 
ible power of God's providence through the overturnings and 
changes of centuries, the efforts of warriors, and the diplomacy 
and intrigues of courts and kings, some modern expositors 
have manifested such a marvelous misapprehension of this 
prophecy as to predict a future universal kingdom, and point 
to a European ruler, even now of waning years and declining 
prestige, as the " destined monarch of the world." Vain is 
the breath they spend in promulgating such a theory, and delu- 
sive the hopes or fears they may succeed in raising over such 
an expectation. 1 

Verse 44. And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven 
set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom 
shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and con- 
sume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. 45. Forasmuch 
as thon sawest that the stone was cut ont of the mountain without 



1 Shortly after this language was penned, Napoleon III, this " destined monarch 
of the world"! was dethroned, and died in ignominious retirement, and his son 
and heir has since fallen by the hands of savages in Africa. 



CH AFTER 2, V EKtiEtS kk, 45 



83 



hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the 
silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king 
what shall come to pass hereafter; and the dream is certain, and the 
interpretation thereof snre. 

We here reach the climax of this stupendous prophecy; 
and when Time in his onward flight shall bring us to the sub- 
lime scene here predicted, we shall have reached the end of 
human history. The kingdom of God ! • Grand provision for 
a new and glorious dispensation, in which his people shall 
find a happy terminus of this world's sad, degenerate, and 
changing career. Transporting change for all the righteous, 
from gloom to glory, from strife to peace, from a sinful to a 
holy world, from death to life, from tyranny and oppression to 
the nappy freedom and blessed privileges of a heavenly king- 
dom! Glorious transition, from weakness to strength, from 
the changing and decaying to the immutable and eternal! 

But when is this kingdom to be established ? May we hope 
for an answer to an inquiry of such momentous concern to our 
race ? These are the very questions on which the word of God 
does not leave us in ignorance ; and herein is seen the surpass- 
ing value of this heavenly boon. We do not say that the exact 
time is revealed (we emphasize the fact that it is not) either 
in this or in any other prophecy ; but so near an approximation 
is given that the generation which is to see the establishment of 
this kingdom may mark its approach unerringly, and make 
that preparation which will entitle them to share in all its 
glories. 

As already explained, we are brought down by verses 41 - 43 
this side of the division of the Roman empire into ten king- 
doms; which division was accomplished, as already noticed, 
between 351 and 483. The kings, or kingdoms, in the days 
of which the God of heaven is to set up his kingdom, are 
evidently those kingdoms which arose out of the Roman em- 
pire. Then the kingdom of God here brought to view could 
not have been set up, as some claim it was, in connection with 
the first advent of Christ, four hundred and fifty years before. 
But' whether we apply this division to the ten kingdoms or not, 
it is certain that some kind of division was to take place in 
6 



84 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



the Roman empire before the kingdom of God should be set 
up ; for the prophecy expressly declares, " The kingdom shall 
be divided.'' And this is equally fatal to the popular view; 
for after the unification of the first elements of the Roman 
power clown to the days of Christ, there was no division of the 
kingdom; nor during his days, nor for many years after, did 
any such thing take place. The civil Avars were not divisions 
of the empire; they were only the efforts of individuals wor- 
shiping at the shrine of ambition, to obtain supreme control of 
the empire. The occasional petty revolts of distant provinces, 
suppressed as with the power, and almost with the speed, of a 
thunderbolt, did not constitute a division of the kingdom. And 
these are all that can be pointed to as interfering with the 
unity of the kingdom, for more than three hundred years this 
side of the days of Christ. This one consideration is suffi- 
cient to disprove forever the view that the kingdom of God, 
which constitutes the fifth kingdom of this series as brought 
to view in Daniel 2, was set up at the commencement of the 
Christian era. But a thought more may be in place. 

1. This fifth kingdom, then, could not have been set up at 
Christ's first advent, because it is not to exist contemporane- 
ously with earthly governments, but to succeed them. As the 
second kingdom succeeded the first, the third the second, and 
the fourth the third, by violence and overthrow, so the fifth 
succeeds the fourth. It does not exist at the same time with 
it. The fourth kingdom is first destroyed, the fragments are 
removed, the territory is cleared, and then the fifth is estab- 
lished as a succeeding kingdom in the order of time. But the 
church has existed contemporaneously with earthly governments 
ever since earthly governments were formed. There was a 
church in Abel's day, in Enoch's, in Noah's, in Abraham's, 
and so on to the present. !No; the church is not the stone 
that smote the image upon its feet. It existed too early in 
point of time, and the work in which it is engaged is not that 
of smiting and overthrowing earthly governments. 

2. The fifth kingdom is introduced by the stone smiting 
the image. What part of the image does the stone smite ? 
■ — The feet and toes. But these were not developed until 



CHAPTER 2, VERSES U, 4$ 



85 



four centuries and a half after the crucifixion of Christ. The 
image was, at the time of the crucifixion, only developed to 
the thighs, so to speak; and if the kingdom of God was there 
set wp, if there the stone smote the image, it smote it upon 
the thighs, not upon the feet, where the prophecy places the 
smiting. 

3. The stone that smites the image is cut out of the moun- 
tain without hands. The margin reads, " 'Which, was not in 
hand." This shows that the smiting is not done by an agent 
acting for another, not by the church, for instance, in the hands 
of Christ; but it is a work which the Lord does by his own 
divine power, without any human agency. 

4. Again, the kingdom of God is placed before the church 
as a matter of hope. The Lord did not teach his disciples a 
prayer which in two or three years was to become obsolete. 
The petition may as appropriately ascend from the lips of the 
patient, waiting flock in these last days, as from the lips of his 
first disciples, " Thy kingdom come." 

5. W T e have plain Scripture declarations to establish the 
following propositions: (1) The kingdom was still future at 
the time of our Lord's last Passover. Matt. 26:29. (2) 
Christ did not set it up before his ascension. Acts 1:6. (3) 
Flesh and blood cannot inherit it. 1 Cor. 15: 50. (4) It is 
a matter of promise to the apostles, and to all those that love 
God. James 2:5. (5) It is promised in the future to the 
little flock. Luke 12: 32. (6) Through much tribulation the 
saints are to enter therein. Acts 14: 22. (7) It is to be set 
up when Christ shall judge the living and the dead. 2 Tim. 
4:1. (8) This is to be when he shall come in his glory with 
all his holy angels. Matt. 25:31 - 34. 

As militating against the foregoing view, it may be asked 
if the expression, u Kingdom of heaven," is not, in the ~New 
Testament, applied to the church. In some instances it may 
be; but in others as evidently it cannot be. In the decisive 
texts referred to above, which show that it was still a matter 
of promise even after the church was fully established, that 
mortality cannot inherit it, and that it is to be set up only in 
connection with the coming of our Lord to judgment, the refer- 



86 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



ence cannot be to any state or organization here upon earth. 
The object we have before us is to ascertain what constitutes 
the kingdom of Dan. 2 : 44 ; and we have seen that the prophecy 
utterly forbids our applying it there to the church, inasmuch 
as by the terms of the prophecy itself we are prohibited from 
looking for that kingdom till over four hundred years after the 
crucifixion of Christ and the establishment of the gospel church. 
Therefore if in some expressions in the New Testament the 
word " kingdom " can be found applying to the work of God's 
grace, or the spread of the gospel, it cannot in such instances 
be the kingdom brought to view in Daniel. That can only be 
the future literal kingdom of Christ's glory, so often brought to 
view in both the Old Testament and the New. 

It may be objected again, that when the stone smites the 
image, the iron, the brass, the silver, and the gold are broken 
to pieces together ; hence the stone must have smitten the image 
when all these parts were in existence. In reply we ask, What 
is meant by their being broken to pieces together ? Does the 
expression mean that the same persons who constituted the 
kingdom of gold would be alive when the image was dashed 
to pieces ? — ■ No ; else the image covers but the duration of 
a single generation. Does it mean that that would be a ruling 
kingdom ? — No ; for there is a succession of kingdoms down 
to the fourth. On the supposition, then, that the fifth king- 
dom was set up at the first advent, in what sense were the 
brass, silver, and gold in existence then any more than at the 
present day ? Does it refer to the time of the second resurrec- 
tion, when all these wicked nations will be raised to life ? — 
No ; for the destruction of earthly governments in this present 
state, which is here symbolized by the smiting of the image, 
certainly takes place at the end of this dispensation; and in 
the second resurrection national distinctions will be no more 
known. 

No objection really exists in the point under consideration ; 
for all the kingdoms symbolized by the image are, in a certain 
sense, still in existence. Chaldea and Assyria are still the first 
divisions of the image; Media and Persia, the second; Macedo- 
nia, Greece, Thrace, Asia Minor, and Egypt, the third. Polit- 



CHAPTER 2, VERSES U, -4-5 



87 



ical life and dominion, it is true, have passed from one to the 
other, till, so far as the image is concerned, it is all now con- 
centrated in the divisions of the fourth kingdom; but the 
others, in location and substance, though without dominion, 
are still there; and together all will be dashed to pieces when 
the fifth kingdom is introduced. 

It may still further be asked, by way of objection, Have 
not the ten kingdoms, in the days of which the kingdom of 
God was to be set up, all passed away X and as the kingdom of 
God is not yet set up, has not the prophecy, according to the 
view here advocated, proved a failure ? We answer : Those 
kingdoms have not yet passed away. We are yet in the days 
of those kings. The following illustration from Dr. kelson's 
"Cause and Cure of Infidelity," pp. 374, 375, will set this 
matter in a clear light : — 

" Suppose some feeble people should be suffering from the 
almost constant invasions of numerous and ferocious enemies. 
Suppose some powerful and benevolent prince sends them word 
that he will, for a number of years, say thirty, maintain, for 
their safety along the frontier, ten garrisons, each to contain 
one hundred well-armed men. Suppose the forts are built and 
remain a few years, when two of them are burned to the ground 
and rebuilt without delay; has there been any violation of the 
sovereign's word ? — Xo ; there was no material interruption 
in the continuance of the walls of strength; and, further- 
more, the most important part of the safeguard was still there. 
Again, suppose the monarch sends and has two posts of strength 
demolished, but, adjoining the spot where these stood, and 
immediately, he has other two buildings erected, more capa- 
cious and more desirable ; does the promise still stand good ? 
We answer in the affirmative, and we believe no one would 
differ with us. Finally, suppose, in addition to the ten gar- 
risons, it could be shown that for several months during the 
thirty years, one more had been maintained there ; that for 
one or two years out of the thirty, there had been there eleven 
instead of ten fortifications ; shall we call it a defeat or a fail- 
ure of the original undertaking? Or shall any seeming inter- 
ruptions, such as have been stated, destroy the propriety of 



88 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



our calling these the ten garrisons of the frontier ? The answer 
is, ^s"o, without dispute. 

" So it is, and has been, respecting the ten kingdoms of 
Europe once under the Roman scepter. They have been there 
for twelve hundred and sixty years. If several have had their 
names changed according to the caprice of him who conquered, 
this change of name did not destroy existence. If others have 
had their territorial limits changed, the nation was still there. 
If others have fallen while successors were forming in their 
room, the ten horns were still there. If, during a few years 
out of a thousand, there were more than ten, if some tem- 
porary power reared its head, seeming to claim a place with 
the rest and soon disappeared, it has not caused the beast to 
have less than ten horns." 

Scott remarks : — 

" It is certain that the Roman empire was divided into ten 
kingdoms ; and though they might be sometimes more and 
sometimes fewer, yet they were still known by the name of the 
ten kingdoms of the Western empire." 

Thus the subject is cleared of all difficulty. Time has fully 
developed this great image in all its parts. Most strictly does 
it represent the important political events it was designed to 
symbolize. It stands complete upon its feet. Thus it has been 
standing for over fourteen hundred years. It waits to be 
smitten upon the feet by the stone cut out of the mountain 
without hand, that is, the kingdom of Christ. This is to be 
accomplished when the Lord shall be revealed in flaming fire, 
taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey 
not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. (See Ps. 2:8, 9.) 
In the days of these kings the God of heaven is to set up a 
kingdom. T\ T e have been in the days of these kings for over 
fourteen centuries, and we are still in their days. So far as 
this prophecy is concerned, the very next event is the setting up 
of God's everlasting kingdom. Other prophecies and innumer- 
able signs show unmistakably its immediate proximity. 

The coming kingdom! This ought to be the all-absorbing 
topic with the present generation. Reader, are you ready for 
the issue ? He who enters this kingdom enters it not merely 



CHAPTER 2, VERSES U - W 



89 



for such a lifetime as men live in this present state, not to see 
it degenerate, not to see it overthrown by a succeeding and 
more powerful kingdom; but he enters it to participate in all 
its privileges and blessings, and to share its glories forever; 
for this kingdom is not to " be left to other people." Again 
we ask you, Are you ready % The terms of heirship are most 
liberal: "If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and 
heirs according to the promise." Are you on terms of friend- 
ship with Christ, the coming King ? Do you love his char- 
acter ? Are you trying to walk humbly in his footsteps, and 
obey his teachings ? If not, read your fate in the cases of 
those in the parable, of whom it was said, " But those mine 
enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring 
hither, and slay them before me." There is to be no rival 
kingdom where you can find an asylum if you remain an 
enemy to this ; for this is to occupy all the territory ever pos- 
sessed by any and all of the kingdoms of this world, past or 
present. It is to fill the whole earth. Happy they to whom 
the rightful Sovereign, the all-conquering King, at last can 
say, " Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom 
prepared for you from the foundation of the world." 

Verse 46. Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and 
worshiped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an obla- 
tion and sweet odors unto him. 47. The king answered unto Daniel, 
and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord 
of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this 
secret. 48. Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him 
many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of 
Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon. 
49. Then Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, 
and Abed-nego over the affairs of the province of Babylon; but Dan- 
iel sat in the gate of the king. 

We have dwelt quite at length on the interpretation of the 
dream, which Daniel made known to the Chaldean monarch. 
From this we must now return to the palace of Nebuchadnez- 
zar, and to Daniel, as he stands in the presence of the king, 
having made known to him the dream and the interpretation 
thereof, while the courtiers and the baffied soothsayers and 
astrologers wait around in silent awe and wonder. 



90 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



It might be expected that an ambitious monarch, raised to 
the highest earthly throne, and in the full flush of uninter- 
rupted success, would scarcely brook to be told that his king- 
dom, which he no doubt fondly hoped would endure through 
all time, was to be overthrown by another people. Yet Daniel 
plainly and boldly made known this fact to the king, and the 
king, so far from being offended, fell upon his face before the 
prophet of God, and offered him worshijD. Daniel doubtless 
immediately countermanded the orders which the king issued 
to pay him divine honors. That Daniel had some communi- 
cation with the king which is not here recorded, is evident 
from verse 47 : " The king answered unto Daniel," etc. And 
it may be still further inferred that Daniel labored to turn the 
king's feelings of reverence from himself to the God of heaven, 
inasmuch as the king replies, " Of a truth it is that your God 
is a God of gods and a Lord of kings." 

Then the king made Daniel a great man. There are two 
things which in this life are specially supposed to make a 
man great, and both these Daniel received from the king: (1) 
Riches. A man is considered great if he is a man of wealth ; 
and we read that the king gave him many and great gifts. (2) 
Power. If in conjunction with riches a man has power, cer- 
tainly in popular estimation he is considered a great man ; and 
power was bestowed upon Daniel in abundant measure. He 
was made ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief 
of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon. 

Thus speedily and abundantly did Daniel begin to be re- 
warded for his fidelity to his own conscience and the require- 
ments of God. So great was Balaam's desire for the presents 
of a certain heathen king, that he endeavored to obtain them 
m spite of the Lord's expressed will to the contrary, and thus 
signally failed. Daniel did not act with a view to obtaining 
these presents ; yet by maintaining his integrity with the Lord 
they were given abundantly into his hands. His advancement, 
both with respect to wealth and power, was a matter of no 
small moment with him, as it enabled him to be of service to 
his fellow-countrymen less favored than himself in their long 
captivity. 



CHAPTER 2, VERSES 1+6 - 1>9 



91 



Daniel did not become bewildered nor intoxicated by his 
signal victory and his wonderful advancement. He first re- 
members the three who were companions with him in anxiety 
respecting the king's matter; and as they had helped him 
with their prayers, he determined that they shonld share with 
him in his honors. At his request they were placed over the 
affairs of Babylon, while Daniel himself sat in the gate of the 
king. The gate was the place where councils were held, and 
matters of chief moment were deliberated upon. The record 
is a simple declaration that Daniel became chief counselor to 
the king. 




Verse 1. Nebuchadnezzar the king 
made an image of gold, whose height 
was threescore cubits, and the breadth 
thereof six cubits; he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province 
of Babylon. 

THERE is a conjecture extant that this image had some 
reference to the dream of the king as described in the 
previous chapter, it having been erected only twenty- 
three years subsequently, according to the marginal chronology. 
In that dream the head was of gold, representing Nebuchad- 
nezzar's kingdom. That was succeeded by metals of inferior 
quality, denoting a succession of kingdoms. Nebuchadnezzar 
was doubtless quite gratified that his kingdom should be repre- 
sented by the gold; but that it should ever be succeeded by 
another kingdom was not so pleasing. Hence, instead of hav- 
ing simply the head of his image of gold, he made it all of 
gold, to denote that the gold of the head should extend through 
the entire image ; or, in other w r ords, that his kingdom should 
not give way to another kingdom, but be perpetual. 

It is probable that the height here mentioned, ninety feet 
at the lowest estimate, was not the height of the image proper, 
(92) 



THE THREE HEBREWS REFUSING TO BOW TO THE IMAGE 



CHAPTER S, VERSES 1 - 7 



95 



but included the pedestal also. 'Nor is it probable that any 
more than the image proper, if even that, was of solid gold. 
It could have been overlaid with thin plates, nicely joined, at 
a much less expense, without detracting at all from its external 
appearance. 

Verse 2. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together 
the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasur- 
ers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to 
come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king 
had set up. 3. Then the princes, the governors, and captains, the 
judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers 
of the provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the 
image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up ; and they stood be- 
fore the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 4. Then an herald 
cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and lan- 
guages, 5. That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, 
harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall 
down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king 
hath set up; 6. And' whoso falleth not down and worshipeth shall the 
same hour be cast into, the midst of a burning fiery furnace. 7. 
Therefore at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the 
cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of music, all the 
people, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshiped the 
golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. 

The dedication of this image was made a great occasion. 
The chief men of all the kingdom were gathered together; so 
much pains and expense will men undergo in sustaining idola- 
trous and heathen systems of worship. So it is and ever has 
been. Alas, that those who have the true religion should be 
so far outdone in these respects by the upholders of the false 
and counterfeit ! The worship was accompanied with music ; 
and whoso should fail to participate therein was threatened 
with a fiery furnace. Such are ever the strongest motives to 
impel men in any direction, — pleasure on the one hand, pain 
on the other. 

Verse 6 contains the first mention to be found in the Bible 
of the division of time into hours. It was probably the inven- 
tion of the Chaldeans. 

Verse 8. Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and 
accused the Jews. 9. They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnez- 
zar, 0 king, live forever. 10. Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that 
every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, 



96 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, shall fall down and 
worship the golden image; 11. And whoso falleth not down and wor- 
shipeth, that he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery fur- 
nace. 12. There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs 
of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego ; these 
men, O king, have not regarded thee; they serve not thy gods, nor 
worship the golden image which thou hast set up. 

These Chaldeans who accused the Jews were probably the 
sect of philosophers who went by that name, and who were 
still smarting under the chagrin of their ignominious failure in 
respect to their interpretation of the king's dream of chapter 2. 
They w^ere eager to seize upon any pretext to accuse the Jews 
before the king, and either disgrace or destroy them. They 
worked upon the king's prejudice by strong insinuations of 
their ingratitude : Thou hast set them over the affairs of Baby- 
lon, and yet they have disregarded thee. Where Daniel w f as 
upon this occasion, is not known. He was probably absent on 
some business of the empire, the importance of which demanded 
his presence. But w T hy should Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed- 
nego, since they kneAV they could not worship the image, be 
present on the occasion ? Was it not because they were willing 
to comply with the king's requirements as far as they could 
without compromising their religious principles ? The king 
required them to be present. With this requirement they 
could comply, and they did. He required them to worship 
the image. This their religion forbade, and this they therefore 
refused to do. 

Verse 13. Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded 
to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. Then they brought 
these men before the king. 14. Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto 
them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, do not ye 
serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? 
15. Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the 
cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of 
music, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made, well : 
but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst 
of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver 
you out of my hands? 16. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego an- 
swered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to 
answer thee in this matter. 17. If it be so, our God whom we serve 
is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will de- 
liver us out of thine hand, O king. 18. But if not, be it known unto 




THE THREE HEBREWS IN THE FIERY FURNACE 



CHAPTER 3, VERSES 13 - 25 



99 



thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden 
image which thou hast set up. 

The forbearance of the king is shown in his granting Shad- 
rach, Meshach, and Abed-nego another trial after their first 
failure to comply with his requirements. Doubtless the mat- 
ter was thoroughly understood. They could not plead igno- 
rance. They knew just w r hat the king wanted, and their failure 
to do it was an intentional and deliberate refusal to obey him. 
With most kings this would have been enough to seal their fate. 
But no, says Nebuchadnezzar, I will overlook this offense, if 
upon a second trial they comply wuth the law r . But they in- 
formed the king that he need not trouble himself to repeat the 
farce. " We are not careful," said they, " to answer thee in 
this matter." That is, you need not grant us the favor of 
another trial; our mind is made up. We can answer just as 
well now as at any future time ; and our answer is, We will 
not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou 
hast set up. Our God can deliver if he will; but if not, it is 
just the same. We know his will, and to that w^e shall render 
unconditional obedience. Their answer was both honest and 
decisive. 

Verse 19. Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of 
his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego; 
therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace 
one seven times more than it was wont to be heated. 20. And he 
commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind 
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, and to cast them into the burn- 
ing fiery furnace, 21. Then these men were bound in their coats, 
their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast 
into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. 22. Therefore because 
the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, 
the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, 
and Abed-nego. 23. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and 
Abed-nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery 
furnace. 24. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose 
up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counselors, Did not we cast 
three men bound into the midst of the fire ? They answered and said 
unto the king, True, 0 king. 25. He answered and said, Lo, I see 
four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no 
hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. 

Nebuchadnezzar w^as not entirely free from the faults and 
follies into which an absolute monarch so easily runs. Intox- 
7 



LOFC. 



100 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



icated with unlimited power, lie could not brook disobedience or 
contradiction. Let his expressed authority be resisted, on how- 
ever good grounds, and he exhibits the weakness common to 
our failen humanity under like circumstances, and flies into a 
passion. Ruler of the world, he was not equal to that still 
harder task of ruling his own spirit. And even the form of his 
visage was changed. Instead of the calm, dignified, self-pos- 
sessed ruler that he should have appeared, he betrayed him- 
self in look and act as the slave of ungovernable passion. 

The furnace was heated one seven times hotter than usual ; 
in other words, to its utmost capacity. The king overreached 
himself in this ; for even if the fire had been suffered to have 
its ordinary effect upon the ones he cast into the furnace, it 
would only have destroyed them the sooner. Nothing would 
have been gained by that means on the part of the king. But 
seeing they were delivered from it, much was gained on the 
part of the cause of God and his truth ; for the more intense 
the heat, the greater and more impressive the miracle of being 
delivered from it. Every circumstance was calculated to show 
the direct power of (rod. They were bound in all their gar- 
ments, but came out with not even the smell of fire upon them. 
The most mighty men in the army were chosen to cast them in. 
These the fire slew ere they came in contact with it; while 
on the Hebrews it had no effect, though they were in the very 
midst of its flames. It was evident that the fire was under the 
control of some supernatural intelligence ; for while it had 
effect upon the cords with which they were bound, destroying 
them, so that they w T ere free to walk about in the midst of the 
fire, it did not even singe their garments. They did not, as 
soon as free, spring out of the fire, but continued therein ; for, 
first, the king had put them in, and it was his place to call them 
out; and, secondly, the form of the fourth was with them, and 
in his presence they could be content and joyful, as well in the 
furnace of fire as in the delights and luxuries of the palace. 
Let us in all our trials, afflictions, persecutions, and straitened 
places, but have the " form of the fourth " with us, and it is 
enough. 



CHAPTER S, VERSE 8 19 - SO 



101 



The king said, "And the form of the fourth is like the Son 
of God." This language is by some supposed to refer to Christ ; 
but it is not likely that the king had any idea of the Saviour. 
A better rendering, according to good authorities, would be 
" like a son of the gods; " that is, he had the appearance of a 
supernatural or divine being. .Nebuchadnezzar subsequently 
called him an angel. 

What a scathing rebuke upon the king for his folly and 
madness was the deliverance of these worthies from the fiery 
furnace ! A higher power than any on earth had vindicated 
those who stood firm against idolatry, and poured contempt on 
the worship and requirements of the king. None of the gods 
of the heathen ever had wrought such deliverance as that, nor 
were they able to do so. 

Verse 26. Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the 
burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and 
Abed-nego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come 
hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego came forth of the 
midst of the fire. 27. And the princes, governors, and captains, and 
the king's counselors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon 
whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head 
singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had 
passed on them. 28. Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed 
be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who hath sent his 
angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have 
changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might 
not serve nor worship any God, except their own God. 29. Therefore 
I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which 
speak anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and 
Abed-nego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a 
dunghill; because there is no other God that can deliver after this 
sort. 30. Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed- 
nego in the province of Babylon. 

When bidden, these three men came forth from the fur- 
nace. Then the princes, governors, and king's counselors, 
through whose advice, or at least concurrence, they had been 
cast into the furnace (for the king said to them, verse 24, 
" Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the 
fire?"), were gathered together to look upon these men, and 
have optical and tangible proof of their wonderful preservation. 
The worship of the great image was lost sight of. The whole 



102 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



interest of this vast concourse of people was now concentrated 
upon these three remarkable men. All men's thoughts and 
minds were full of this wonderful occurrence. And how the 
knowledge of it would he spread abroad throughout the empire, 
as they should return to their respective provinces ! What 
a notable instance in which God caused the wrath of man to 
praise him ! 

Then the king blessed the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and 
Abed-nego, and made a decree that none should speak against 
him. This the Chaldeans had undoubtedly done. In those 
days, each nation had its god or gods ; for there were u gods 
many and lords many." And the victory of one nation over 
another was supposed to occur because the gods of the con- 
quered nation were not able to deliver them from the con- 
querors. The Jews had been wholly subjugated by the 
Babylonians, on which account the latter had no doubt spoken 
disparagingly or contemptuously of the God of the Jews. This 
the kiug now prohibits; for he is plainly given to understand 
that his success against the J ews was owing to their sins, not to 
any lack of power on the part of their God. In what a con- 
spicuous and exalted light this placed the God of the Hebrews 
in comparison with the gods of the nations! It was an ac- 
knowledgment that he held men amenable to some high standard 
of moral character, and that he did not regard with indifference 
their actions in reference to it ; since he would visit with pun- 
ishment those who transgressed it, and would consequently 
bestow his blessing on those who complied with it. Had these 
Jews been time-servers, the name of the true God had not thus 
been exalted in Babylon. What honor does the Lord put upon 
them that are steadfast toward him ! 

The king promoted them ; that is, he restored to them the 
offices which they held before the charges of disobedience and 
treason were brought against them. At the end of verse 30 
the Septuagint adds: "And he advanced them to be governors 
over all the Jews that were in his kingdom." It is not prob- 
able that he insisted on any further worship of his image. 



CHAPTEK IV. 



Verse 1. Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and 
languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you. 
2. I thought it good to show the signs and wonders that the high 
God hath wrought toward me. 3. How great are his signs ! and how 
mighty are his wonders ! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and 
his dominion is from generation to generation. 

' I ^HIS chapter opens, says Dr. Clarke, with " a regular 



decree, and one of the most ancient on record." It 



was from the pen of Nebuchadnezzar, and was promul- 
gated in the usual form. He wishes to make known, not 
to a few men only, but to all peoples, nations, and languages, 
the wonderful dealings of God with him. People are ever 
ready to tell what God has done for them in the way of bene- 
fits and blessings. We ought to be no less ready to tell what 
God has done for us in the way of humiliation and chastise- 
ments; and Nebuchadnezzar sets us a good example in this 




(103) 



104 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



respect, as we shall see from the subsequent portions of this 
chapter. He frankly confesses the vanity and pride of his 
heart, and the means that God took to abase him. With a 
genuine spirit of repentance and humiliation, he thinks it good, 
of his own free will, to show these things, that the sovereignty 
of God may be extolled, and his name adored. In reference to 
the kingdom, he no longer claims immutability for his own, 
but makes a full surrender to God, acknowledging his king- 
dom alone to be everlasting, and his dominion from genera- 
tion to generation. 

Verse 4. I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in mine house and flourish- 
ing in my palace: 5. I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the 
thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me. 6. 
Therefore made I a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon 
before me, that they might make known unto me the interpretation 
of the dream. 7. Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the 
Chaldeans, and the soothsayers; and I told the dream before them; 
but they did not make known unto me the interpretation thereof. 8. 
But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belte- 
shazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit 
of the holy gods : and before him I told the dream, saying, 9. O Belte- 
shazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of 
the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the vi- 
sions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof. 

10. Thus were the visions of mine head in my bed : I saw, and behold 
a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great. 

11. The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached 
unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth; 12. 
The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it 
was meat for all : the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the 
fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed 
of it. 13. I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, 
a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven; 14. He cried 
aloud, and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches, 
shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit: let the beasts get away 
from under it, and the fowls from his branches: 15. Nevertheless, 
leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron 
and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the 
dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of 
the earth; 16. Let his heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's 
heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him. 17. 
This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the 
word of the holy ones; to the intent that the living may know that 
the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whom- 
soever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men. 18. This 
dream I king Nebuchadnezzar have seen. Now thou, O Belteshazzar, 



CHAPTER k, VERSES 4 - 18 



105 



declare the interpretation thereof, forasmuch as all the wise men of 
my kingdom are not able to make known unto me the interpretation : 
but thou art able; for the spirit of the holy gods is in thee. 

In the events here narrated, several striking points may be 
noticed. 

1. Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in his house. He had ac- 
complished successfully all his enterprises. He had subdued 
Syria, Phoenicia, Judea, Egypt, and Arabia. It was probably 
these great conquests that puffed him up, and betrayed him 
into such vanity and self-confidence. And this very time, 
when he felt most at rest and secure, when it was most un- 
likely that he would allow a thought to disturb his self-com- 
placent tranquillity, — this very time God takes to trouble him 
with fears and forebodings. 

2. The means by which God did this. What could strike 
with fear the heart of such a monarch as Nebuchadnezzar ? 
He had been a warrior from his youth. With the perils of 
battle, the terrors of slaughter and carnage, he had often stood 
face to face, and his countenance had not blanched, nor his 
nerves trembled. And what should make him afraid now? 
No foe threatened, no hostile cloud was visible ? As the most 
unlikely time was taken for him to be touched with fear, so 
the most unlikely means was selected by which to accomplish 
it — a dream. His own thoughts, and the visions of his own 
head, were taken to teach him what nothing else could, — a 
salutary lesson of dependence and humility. He who had 
terrified others, but whom no others could terrify, was made 
a terror to himself. 

3. A still greater humiliation than that narrated in the 
second chapter was brought upon the magicians. There, they 
boasted that if they only had the dream, they could make 
known the interpretation. Here, Nebuchadnezzar distinctly 
remembers the dream, but meets the mortification of having 
his magicians ignominiously fail him again. They could not 
make known the interpretation, and resort is again had to the 
prophet of God. 

4. The remarkable illustration of the reign of Nebuchad- 
nezzar. This is symbolized by a tree in the midst of the earth. 



106 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



Babylon, where Nebuchadnezzar reigned, was about in the 
center of the then known world. The tree reached unto heaven, 
and the leaves thereof were fair. Its external glory and splen- 
dor were great; but this was not all of it, as is the case with 
too many kingdoms. It had internal excellences. Its fruit 
was much, and it had meat for all. The beasts of the field 
had shadow under it, the fowls of heaven dwelt in the boughs 
thereof, and all flesh was fed of it. What could represent 
more plainly and forcibly the fact that Nebuchadnezzar ruled 
his kingdom in such a way as to afford the fullest protection, 
support, and prosperity to all his subjects % Really to accom- 
plish this is the perfection of earthly governments, and the 
highest glory of any kingdom. 

5. The mercy that God mingles with his judgments. When 
order was given that this tree should be cut down, it was 
commanded that the stump of the roots should be left in the 
earth, and protected with a band of iron and brass, that it 
might not be wholly given to decay, but that the source of 
future growth and greatness, might be left. The day is com- 
ing when the wicked shall be cut down, and no such residue 
of hope be left them. No mercy will be mingled with their 
punishment. They shall be destroyed both root and branch. 

6. An important key to prophetic interpretation. Verse 
16. " Let seven times pass over him," said the decree. This 
is plain, literal narration; hence the time is here to be under- 
stood literally. How long a period is denoted ? This may 
be determined by ascertaining how long Nebuchadnezzar, in 
fulfilment of this prediction, was driven out to have his dwell- 
ing with the beasts of the field; and this, Josephus informs us, 
was seven years. A " time," then, denotes one year. When 
used in symbolic prophecy, it would, of course, denote sym- 
bolic or prophetic time. A " time " would then denote a 
prophetic year, or, each clay standing for a year, three hun- 
dred and sixty literal years. There will be occasion to refer 
to this fact under chapter 7 : 25. 

7. The interest that the holy ones, or the angels, take in 
human affairs. They are represented as demanding this deal- 
ing with Nebuchadnezzar. They see, as mortals never can 



THE HUMILIATION OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR 



CHAPTER 1>, VERSES 4 - 27 



109 



see, how unseemly a thing is pride in the human heart. And 
they approve of, and sympathize with, the decrees and provi- 
dences of God by which he works for the correction of these 
evils. Man must know that he is not the architect of his own 
fortune, but that there is One who ruleth in the kingdom of 
men, on whom his dependence should be humbly placed. A 
man may be a successful monarch, but he should not pride 
himself upon that ; for unless the Lord had set him up, he 
would never have reached this position of honor. 

8. Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges the supremacy of the true 
God over the heathen oracles. He appeals to Daniel to solve 
the mystery. " Thou art able," he says ; " for the spirit of 
the holy gods is in thee." The Septuagint has the singular, 
the Spirit of the holy God. 

Verse 19. Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonied 
for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. The king- spake, and 
said, Belteshazzar, let not the dream, or the interpretation thereof, 
trouble thee. Belteshazzar answered and said, My lord, the dream 
be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine 
enemies. 20. The tree that thou sawest, which grew, and was strong, 
whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all 
the earth; 21. Whose leaves were, fair, and the fruit thereof much, 
and in it was meat for all; under which the beasts of the field dwelt, 
and upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven had their habita- 
tion: 22. It is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong; 
for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy 
dominion to the end of the earth. 23. And whereas the king saw 
a watcher and an holy one coming down from heaven, and say- 
ing, Hew the tree down, and destroy it ; yet leave the stump of the 
roots thereof in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the 
tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, 
and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, till seven times 
pass over him ; 24. This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the 
decree of the Most High, which is come upon my lord the king; 25. 
That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with 
the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, 
and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall 
pass over thee, till thou know that the Most High ruleth in the king- 
dom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. 26. And whereas 
they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy kingdom 
shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the 
heavens do rule. 27. Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable 
unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities 
by showing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy 
tranquillity. 



110 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



The hesitation of Daniel, who sat astonished for one hour, 
did not arise from any difficulty he had in interpreting the 
dream, but from its being so delicate a matter to make it 
known to the king. Daniel had received favor from the king, 
— nothing but favor, so far as we know, — and it came hard 
for him to be the bearer of so terrible a threatening of judg- 
ment against him as was involved in this dream. He was 
troubled to determine in what way he could best make it known. 
It seems the king had anticipated something of this kind, and 
hence assured the prophet by telling him not to let the dream 
or the interpretation trouble him; as if he had said, Do not 
hesitate to make it known, whatever bearing it may have upon 
me. Thus assured, Daniel speaks; and where can we find a 
parallel to the force and delicacy of his language: " The dream 
be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to 
thine enemies." A calamity is set forth in this dream, which 
we would might come upon your enemies rather than upon 
you. 

Nebuchadnezzar had given a minute statement of his 
dream; and as soon as Daniel informed him that the dream 
applied to himself, it was evident that he had pronounced his 
own sentence. The interpretation which follows is so plain 
that it need not detain us. The threatened judgments were 
conditional. They were to teach the king that the Heavens do 
rule, the word heavens here being put for God, the ruler of 
the heavens. Hence Daniel takes occasion to give the king 
counsel in view of the threatened judgment. But he does 
not denounce him with harshness and censoriousness. Kind- 
ness and persuasion are the weapons he chooses to wield : " Let 
my counsel be acceptable unto thee." So the apostle beseeches 
men to suffer the word of exhortation. Heb. 13 : 22. If the 
king would break off his sins by righteousness, and his in- 
iquities by showing mercy to the poor, it might result in a 
lengthening of his tranquillity, or, as the margin reads, "An 
healing of thine error." That is, he might even have averted 
the judgment the Lord designed to bring upon him. 

Verse 28. All this came upon the king- Nebuchadnezzar. 29. At 
the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of 



CHAPTER k, VERSES 28 - 33 



111 



Babylon. 30. The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, 
that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my 
power, and for the honor of my majesty? 31. While the word was in 
the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, 0 king 
Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken : The kingdom is departed from 
thee. 32. And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling 
shall be with the beasts of the field ; they shall make thee to eat grass 
as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that 
the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whom- 
soever he will. 33. The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon 
Nebuchadnezzar; and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as 
oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were 
grown like eagle's feathers, and his nails like bird's claws. 

Nebuchadnezzar failed to profit by the warning he had 
received ; yet God bore with him twelve months before the 
blow fell. All the time he w T as cherishing pride in his heart, 
and at length it reached a climax beyond which God could not 
suffer it to pass. The king walked in the palace, and as he 
looked forth upon the wonders of that wonder of the world, 
great Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, he forgot the source 
of all his strength and greatness, and exclaimed, " Is not this 
great Babylon, that I have built ? " The time had come for 
his humiliation. A voice from heaven again announces the 
threatened judgment, and divine Providence proceeds imme- 
diately to execute it. His reason departed. No longer the 
pomp and glory of his great city charmed him, when God with 
a touch of his finger took away his capability to appreciate 
and enjoy it. He forsook the dwellings of men, and sought 
a home and companionship among the beasts of the forest. 

Verse 34. And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up 
mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, 
and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored him that liv- 
eth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his king- 
dom is from generation to generation : 35. And all the inhabitants of 
the earth are reputed as nothing ; and he doeth according to his will in 
the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth ; and none 
can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou ? 36. At the 
same time my reason returned unto me ; and for the glory of my king- 
dom, mine honor and brightness returned unto me ; and my counsel- 
ors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my 
kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me. 37. Now I 
Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, 
all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment; and those that 
walk in pride he is able to abase. 



112 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



At the end of seven years, God removed his afflicting hand, 
and the reason and understanding of the king returned to him 
again. His first act then was to bless the Most High. On 
this Matthew Henry has the following appropriate remark: 
" Those may justly be reckoned void of understanding that do 
not bless and praise God; nor do men ever rightly use their 
reason till they begin to be religious, nor live as men till they 
live to the glory of God. As reason is the substratum or sub- 
ject of religion (so that creatures which have no reason are not 
capable of religion), so religion is the crown -and glory of 
reason; and we have our reason in vain, and shall one day 
wish we had never had it, if we do not glorify God with it." 

His honor and brightness returned to him, his coun- 
selors sought unto him, and he was once more established in 
the kingdom. The promise was (verse 26) that his kingdom 
should be sure unto him. During his insanity, his son, Evil- 
merodach, is said to have reigned as regent in his stead. 
Daniel's interpretation of the dream was doubtless well under- 
stood throughout the palace, and was probably more or less 
the subject of conversation. Hence the return of Nebuchad- 
nezzar to his kingdom must have been anticipated, and looked 
for with interest. Why he was permitted to make his home 
in the open field in so forlorn a condition, instead of being 
comfortably cared for by the attendants of the palace, we are 
not informed. It is supposed that he dexterously escaped 
from the palace, and eluded all search* 

The affliction had its designed effect. The lesson of hu- 
mility was learned. He did not forget it with returning 
prosperity. He was ready to acknowledge that the Most High 
rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomsoever he 
will; and he sent forth through all his realm a royal proc- 
lamation, containing an acknowledgment of his pride, and a 
manifesto of praise and adoration to the King of heaven. 

This is the last Scripture record we have of Nebuchad- 
nezzar. This decree is dated in the authorized version, says 
Dr. Clarke, 563 b. c, one year before Nebuchadnezzar's death; 
though some place the date of this decree seventeen years be- 
fore his death. Be this as it may, it is probable that he did 



CHAPTER k, VERSES $k - 87 



113 



not again relapse into idolatry, but died in the faith of the 
God of Israel. 

Thus closed the life of this remarkable man. With all the 
temptations incident to his exalted position as king, may we 
not suppose that God saw in him honesty of heart, integrity, 
and pnrity of purpose, which he.conld nse to the glory of his 
name ? Hence his wonderful dealings with him, all of which 
seem to have been designed to wean him from his false religion, 
and attach him to the service of the true God. We have, first, 
his dream of the great image, containing such a valuable lesson 
for the people of all coming generations. Secondly, his expe- 
rience with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego in reference to 
his golden image, wherein he was again led to an acknowledg- 
ment of the supremacy of the true God. And lastly, we have 
the wonderful incidents recorded in this chapter, showing the 
still unceasing efforts of the Lord to bring him to a full ac- 
knowledgment of himself. And may we not hope that the # 
most illustrious king of the first prophetic kingdom, the head 
of gold, may at last have part in that kingdom before which 
all earthlv kingdoms shall become as chaff, and- the glory of 
which shall never dim ? 




THE chief feature of interest pertaining to this chapter 
is the fact that it describes the closing scenes of the 
Babylonish empire, the transition from the gold to the 
silver of the great image of chapter 2, and from the lion to 
the bear of Daniel's vision in chapter 7. This feast is sup- 
posed by some to have been a stated annual festival in honor 
of one of their deities. On this account, Cyrus, who was then 
besieging Babylon, learned of its approach, and knew when to 
lay his plans for the overthrow of the city. Our translation 
reads that Belshazzar, having invited a thousand of his lords, 
drank before the thousand. Some translate it " drank against 
the thousand," showing that whatever other propensities he 
may have had, he was at least an enormous drinker. 

Verse 2. Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to 
bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar 
had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, 
(114) 



CHAPTER 5, VERSES 2 - 9 



115 



and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein. 
3. Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the 
temple of the house of God which was in Jerusalem; and the king, 
and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them. 4. 
They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, 
of iron, of wood, and of stone. 

That this festival had some reference to former victories 
over the Jews may be inferred from the fact that the king, 
when he began to be heated with his wine, called for the sa- 
cred vessels which had been taken from Jerusalem. It would 
be most likely that, lost to a sense of all sacred things, he 
would use them to celebrate the victory by which they were 
obtained. Xo other king, probably, had carried his impiety 
to such a height as this. And while they drank wine from 
vessels dedicated to the true God, they praised their gods of 
gold, silver, brass, iron, wood, and stone. Perhaps, as noticed 
on chapter 3:29, they celebrated the superior power of their 
gods over the God of the Jews, from whose vessels they now 
drank to their heathen deities. 

Verse 5. In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, 
and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall 
of the king's palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that 
wrote. 6. Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts 
troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees 
smote one against another. 7. The king cried aloud to bring in the 
astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. And the king spake, 
and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writ- 
ing, and show me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with 
scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the 
third ruler in the kingdom. 8. Then came in all the king's wise 
men: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the 
king the interpretation thereof. 9. Then was king Belshazzar greatly 
troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords 
were astonied. 

!N*o flashes of supernatural light, nor deafening peals of 
thunder, announce the interference of God in their impious 
revelries. A hand silently appeared, tracing mystic characters 
upon the wall. It wrote over against the candlestick. In the 
light of their own lamp they saw it. Terror seized upon the 
king; for his conscience accused him. Although he could not 
read the writing, he knew^ it was no message of peace and 
8 



116 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



blessing that was traced in glittering characters upon his palace 
wall. And the description the prophet gives of the effect of 
the king's fear cannot be excelled in any particular. The 
king's countenance was changed, his heart failed him, pain 
seized upon him, and so violent was his trembling that his 
knees smote one against another. He forgot his boasting and 
revelry; he forgot his dignity; and he cried alond for his as- 
trologers and soothsayers to solve the meaning of the terrible 
apparition. 

Verse 10. Now the queen by reason of the words of the king and 
his lords came into the banquet house : and the queen spake and said, 
O king, live forever; let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy 
countenance be changed. 11. There is a man in thy kingdom, in 
whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father 
light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, 
was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the 
king, I say, thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, 
Chaldeans, and soothsayers ; 12. Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and 
knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and showing 
of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same 
Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar : now let Daniel be called, 
and he will show the interpretation. 13. Then was Daniel brought 
in before the king. And the king spake and said unto Daniel, Art 
thou that Daniel, which art of the children of the captivity of Judah, 
whom the king my father brought out of Jewry? 14. I have even 
heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods is in thee, and that light 
and understanding and excellent wisdom is found in thee. 15. And 
now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in before me, 
that they should read this writing, and make known unto me the 
interpretation thereof : but they could not show the interpretation of 
the thing. 16. And I have heard of thee, that thou canst make inter- 
pretations, and dissolve doubts: now if thou canst read the writing, 
and make known to me the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be 
clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about thy neck, and 
shalt be the third ruler in the kingdom. 

It appears from the circnmstance here narrated, that the 
fact that Daniel was a prophet of God had by some means 
been lost sight of at the conrt and palace. This was donbtless 
owing to his having been absent at Shnshan, in the province of 
Elam, as narrated in chapter 8:1, 2, 27, whither he had been 
sent to attend to the business of the kingdom there. The 
conntry being swept by the Persian army would compel his 
return to Babylon at this time. The queen, who came in and 



CHAPTER 5, VERSES 10 - %k 



119 



made known to the king that there was snch a person to whom 
appeal could be made for knowledge in supernatural things, is 
supposed to have been the queen mother, the daughter of Nebu- 
chadnezzar, in whose memory the wonderful part Daniel had 
acted in her father's reign would still be fresh and vivid. 
Nebuchadnezzar is here called Belshazzar's father, according to 
the then common custom of calling any paternal ancestor father, 
and any male descendant son. Nebuchadnezzar was in reality 
his grandfather. The king inquired of Daniel, when he came 
in, if he was of the children of the captivity of Judah. Thus 
it seems to have been ordered, that while they were holding 
impious revelry in honor of their false gods, a servant of the 
true God, and one whom they were holding in captivity, was 
called in to pronounce the merited judgment upon their wicked 
course. 

Verse 17. Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let 
thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet I will 
read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the inter- 
pretation. 18. O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar 
thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honor; 19. And 
for the majesty that he gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages, 
trembled and feared before him : whom he would he slew ; and whom 
he would he kept alive ; and whom he would he set up ; and whom 
he would he put down. 20. But when his heart was lifted up, and his 
mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and 
they took his glory from him: 21. And he was driven from the sons 
of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling 
was with the wild asses : they fed him with grass like oxen, and his 
body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most 
high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over 
it whomsoever he will. 22. And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not 
humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this ; 23. But hast lifted 
up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the 
vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, 
and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised 
the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron,- wood, and stone, which 
see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath 
is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified : 24. Then was 
the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written. 

Daniel first of all disclaims the idea of being influenced by 
such motives as governed the soothsayers and astrologers. He 
says, Let thy rewards be to another. He wishes it distinctly 
understood that he does not enter upon the work of interpret- 



120 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



ing this matter on account of the offer of gifts and rewards. 
He then rehearses the experience of the king's grandfather, 
Nebuchadnezzar, as set forth in the preceding chapter. He 
told the king that though he knew all this, yet he had not 
humbled his heart, but had lifted up himself against the God 
of heaven, and even carried his impiety so far as to profane 
his sacred vessels, praising the senseless gods of men's making, 
and failing to glorify the God in whose hand his breath was. 
For this reason, he tells him, it is, that the hand has been sent 
forth from that God whom he had daringly and insultingly 
challenged, to trace those characters of fearful, though hidden 
import. He then proceeds to explain the writing. 

Verse 25. And this is the writing that was written, MENE, 
MENE, TEKEL, UPHAKSIK. 26. This is the interpretation of 
the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished 
it. 27. TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found 
wanting. 28. PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the 
Medes and Persians. 29. Then commanded Belshazzar, and they 
clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, 
and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third 
ruler in the kingdom. 

It is not known in what language this inscription was writ- 
ten. If it had been in Chaldaic, the king's wise men would 
have been able to read it. Dr. Clarke conjectures that it was 
written in the Samaritan, the true Hebrew, a language with 
which Daniel was familiar, as it was the character used by the 
Jews previous to the Babylonish captivity. It seems much 
more likely that it was a character strange to all the parties, 
and that it was specially made known to Daniel by the Spirit 
of the Lord. 

In this inscription each word stands for a short sentence. 
Mene, numbered; Tekel, weighed; TJjjharsin, from the root 
peres, divided. God, whom thou hast defied, has thy king- 
dom in his own hands, and has numbered its days and finished 
its course just at the time thou thoughtest it at the height of 
its prosperity. Thou, who hast lifted up thy heart in pride 
as the great one of the earth, art weighed, and found lighter 
than vanity. Thy kingdom, which thou didst dream was to 
stand forever, is divided between the foes already waiting at 



CHAPTER 5, VERSES 25 - 31 



121 



thy gates. Notwithstanding this terrible denunciation, Bel- 
shazzar did not forget his promise, but had Daniel at once 
invested with the scarlet robe and chain of gold, and proclaimed 
him third ruler in the kingdom. This Daniel accepted, prob- 
ably with a view to being better prepared to look after -the 
interests of his people during the transition to the succeeding 
kingdom. 

Verse 30. In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans 
slain. 31. And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about 
threescore and two years old. 

The scene here so briefly mentioned is described in remarks 
on chapter 2, verse 39. While Belshazzar was indulging in 
his presumptuous revelry, while the angel's hand was tracing 
the doom of the empire on the walls of the palace, while Daniel 
was making known the fearful import of the heavenly writing, 
the Persian soldiery, through the emptied channel of the Eu- 
phrates, had made their way into the heart of the city, and 
were speeding forward with drawn swords to the palace of 
the king. Scarcely can it be said that they surprised him, 
for God had just forewarned him of his doom. But they 
found him and slew him; and with him the empire of Baby- 
Ion ceased to be. 

As a fitting conclusion to this chapter, we give the follow- 
ing beautiful poetic description of Belshazzar's feast, from 
the pen of Edwin Arnold, author of " The Light of Asia." 
It was written in 1852, and obtained the Newdegate prize 
for an English poem on the Feast of Belshazzar, at University 
College, Oxford: — 

ISTot by one portal, or one path alone, 
God's holy messages to men are known; 
Waiting the glances of his awful eyes, 
Silver-winged seraphs do him embassies; 
And stars, interpreting his high behest, 
Guide the lone feet and glad the falling breast ; 
The rolling thunder and the raging sea 
Speak the stern purpose of the Deity, 
And storms beneath and rainbow hues above 
Herald his anger or proclaim his love; 
The still small voices of the summer day, 
The red sirocco, and the breath of May, 



122 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



The lingering harmony in ocean shells, 
The fairy music of the meadow bells, 
Earth and void air, water and wasting flame, 
Have words to whisper, tongues to tell, his name. 
Once, with no cloak of careful mystery, 
Himself was herald of his own decree; 
The hand that edicts on the marble drew, 
Graved the stern sentence of their scorner too. 
Listen and learn ! Tyrants have heard the tale, 
And turned from hearing, terror-struck and pale; 
Spiritless captives, sinking with the chain, 
Have read this page, and taken heart again. 

From sunlight unto starlight, trumpets told 

Her king's command in Babylon the old; 

From sunlight unto starlight, west and east, 

A thousand satraps girt them for the feast, 

And reined their chargers to the palace hall 

Where king Belshazzar held high festival : 

A pleasant palace under pleasant skies, 

With cloistered courts and gilded galleries, 

And gay kiosk and painted balustrade 

For winter terraces and summer shade; 

By court and terrace, minaret and dome, 

Euphrates, rushing from his mountain home, 

Rested his rage and curbed his crested pride 

To belt that palace with his bluest tide; 

Broad-fronted bulls with chiseled feathers barred, 

In silent vigil keeping watch and ward, 

Giants of granite, wrought by cunning hand, 

Guard in the gate and frown upon the land. 

Not summer's glow nor yellow autumn's glare 

Pierced the broad tamarisks that blossomed there; 

The moonbeams, darting through their leafy screen, 

Lost half their silver in the softened green, 

And fell with lessened luster, broken light, 

Tracing quaint arabesque of dark and white, 

Or dimly tinting on the graven stones 

The pictured annals of Chaldean thrones. 

There, from the rising to the setting day, 

Birds of bright feathers sang the light away, 

And fountain waters on the palace floor 

Made even answer to the river's roar, 

Rising in silver from the crystal well, 

And breaking into spangles as they fell, 

Though now ye heard them not — for far along 

Rang the broad chorus of the banquet song, 

And sounds as gentle, echoes soft as these, 

Died out of hearing from the revelries. 



CHAPTER 5, VERSES 17 - 30 



123 



High on a throne of ivory and gold, 

From crown to footstool clad in purple fold, 

Lord of the East from sea to distant sea, 

The king Belshazzar feasteth royally — 

And not that dreamer in the desert cave 

Peopled his paradise with pomp as brave ; 

Vessels of silver, cups of crusted gold, 

Blush with a brighter red than all they hold; 

Pendulous lamps, like planets of the night, 

Flung on the diadems a fragrant light, 

Or, slowly swinging in the midnight sky, 

Gilded the ripples as they glided by. 

And sweet and sweeter rose the cittern's ring, 

Soft as the beating of a seraph's wing; 

And swift and swifter in the measured dance 

The tresses gather and the sandals glance; 

And bright and brighter at the festal board 

The flagons bubble, and the wines are poured. 

No lack of goodly company was there, 

No lack of laughing eyes to light the cheer; 

Prom Dara trooped they, from Daremma's grove, 

" The sons of battle and the moons of love ; " 1 

From where Arsissa's silver waters sleep 

To Imla's marshes and the inland deep, 

From pleasant Calah, and from Cattacene — 

The horseman's captain and the harem's queen. 

It seemed no summer-cloud of passing woe 
Could fling its shadow on so fair a show; 
It seemed the gallant forms that feasted there 
Were all too grand for woe, too great for care ; — ■ 
Whence came the anxious eye, the altered tone, 
The dull presentiment no heart would own, 
That ever changed the smiling to a sigh 
Sudden as sea-bird flashing from* the sky ? 
It is not that they know the spoiler waits, 
Harnessed for battle, at the brazen gates; 
It is not that they hear the watchman's call 
Mark the slow minutes on the leaguered wall; 
The clash of quivers and the ring of spears 
Make pleasant music in a soldier's ears, 
And not a scabbard hideth sword to-night 
That hath not glimmered in the front of fight. 
May not the blood of every beating vein 
Have quick foreknowledge of the coming pain, 
Even as the prisoned silver, 2 dead and dumb, 
Shrinks at cold winter's footfall ere he come? 



1 Hafiz, the Persian Anacreon. 

2 The quicksilver in the tube of the thermometer. 



124 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



The king hath felt it, and the heart's unrest 
Heaves the broad purple of his belted breast. 
Sudden he speaks : " What ! doth the beaded juice 
Savor like hyssop, that ye scorn its use? 
Wear ye so pitiful and sad a soul, 
That tramp of foemen scares ye from the bowl? 
Think ye the gods of yonder starry floor 
Tremble for terror when the thunders roar? 
Are we not gods ? have we not fought with God ? 
And shall we shiver at a robber's nod? 
No; let them batter till the brazen bars 
Ring merry mocking of their idle wars. 
Their fall is fated for to-morrow's sun ; 
The lion rouses when his feast is done. 
Crown me a cup, and fill the bowls we brought 
From Judah's temple when the fight was fought; 
Drink, till the merry madness fill the soul, 
To Salem's conqueror in Salem's bowl; 
Each from the goblet of a god shall sip, 
And Judah's gold tread heavy on the lip." 1 
The last loud answer dies along the line, 
The last light bubble bursts upon the wine, 
His eager lips are on the jeweled brink, — 
Hath the cup poison that he doubts to drink ? 
Is there a spell upon the sparkling gold, 
That so his fevered fingers quit their hold ? 
Whom sees he where he gazes? what is there? 
Freezing his vision into fearful stare? 
Follow his lifted arm and lighted eye, 
And watch with them the wondrous mystery. 

There cometh forth a hand, upon the stone 
Graving the symbols of a speech unknown ; 
Fingers like mortal fingers, leaving there 
The blank wall flashing characters of fear; 
And still it glideth silently and slow, 
And still beneath the spectral letters grow; 
Now the scroll endeth ; now the seal is set ; 
The hand is gone; the record tarries yet. 
As one who waits the warrant of his death, 
With pale lips parted and with bridled breath, 
They watch the sign, and dare not turn to seek 
Their fear reflected in their fellow's cheek, 
But stand as statues where the life is none, 
Half the jest uttered, half the laughter done, 



" He never drinks 
But Timon's silver treads upon his lips." 

— . Shakespeare, " Titus Andronicus: 



CHAPTER 5, VERSES 17-30 



125 



Half the flask empty, half the flagon poured; 
Each where the phantom found him at the board 
Struck into silence, as December's arm 
Curbs the quick ripples into crystal calm. 

With wand of ebony and sable stole, 
Chaldea's wisest scan the spectral scroll. 
Strong in the lessons of a lying art, 
Each comes to gaze, but gazes to depart; 
And still for mystic sign and muttered spell 
The graven letters guard their secret well; 
Gleam they for warning, glare they to condemn, 
God speaketh, but he speaketh not for them. 

Oh ! ever, when the happy laugh is dumb, 

All the joy gone, and all the anguish come; 

When strong adversity and subtle pain 

Wring the sad soul and rack the throbbing brain; 

When friends once faithful, hearts once all our own, 

Leave us to weep, to bleed and die alone; 

When fears and cares the lonely thought employ, 

And clouds of sorrow hide the sun of joy ; 

When weary life, breathing reluctant breath, 

Hath no hope sweeter than the hope of death, — 

Then the best counsel and the last relief, 

To cheer the spirit or to cheat the grief, 

The only calm, the only comfort heard, 

Comes in the music of a woman's word, 

Like beacon-bell on some wild island shore, 

Silverly ringing in the tempest's roar; 

Whose sound, borne ship ward through the midnight gloom. 
Tells of the path, and turns her from her doom. 

So in the silence of that awful hour, 

When baffled magic mourned its parted power, 

When kings were pale, and satraps shook for fear, 

A woman speaketh, and the wisest hear. 

She, the high daughter of a thousand thrones, 

Telling with trembling lip and timid tones 

Of him, the captive, in the feast forgot, 

Who readeth visions ; him whose wondrous lot 

Sends him to lighten doubt and lessen gloom, 

And gaze undazzled on the days to come; 

Daniel, the Hebrew, such his name and race, 

Held by a monarch highest in his grace, 

He may declare — oh ! bid them quickly send, 

So may the mystery have happy end. 

Calmly and silent as the fair, full moon 

Comes smiling upward in the sky of June, 



126 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



Fearfully as the troubled clouds of night 
Shrink from before the coming of its light, 
So through the hall the prophet passed along, 
So from before him fell the festal throng. 
By broken, wassail-cup, and wine o'erthrown, 
Pressed he still onward for the monarch's throne ; 
His spirit failed him not, his quiet eye 
Lost not its light for earthly majesty; 
His lip was steady and his accent clear — 
" The king hath needed me, and I am here." 

"Art thou the prophet? Read me yonder scroll, 
Whose undeciphered horror daunts my soul. 
There shall be guerdon for the grateful task, 
Fitted for me to give, for thee to ask, — 
A chain to deck thee, and a robe to grace, 
Thine the third throne, and thou the third in place." 
He heard, and turned him where the lighted wall 
Dimmed the red torches of the festival, 
Gazed on the sign with steady gaze and set; 
And he who quailed not at a kingly threat 
Bent the true knee and bowed the silver hair, 
For that he knew the King of kings was there ; 
Then nerved his soul the sentence to unfold, 
While his tongue trembled at the tale it told. 
And never tongue shall echo tale as strange 
Till that change cometh which shall never change. 

" Keep for thyself the guerdon and the gold ; 

What God hath graved, God's prophet must unfold; 

Gould not thy father's crime, thy father's fate, 

Teach thee the terror thou hast learned too late? 

Hast thou not read the lesson of his life, — 

Who wars with God shall strive a losing strife? 

His was a kingdom mighty as thine own, 

The sword his scepter and the earth his throne; 

The nations trembled when his awful eye 

Gave to them leave to live or doom to die : 

The lord of life, the keeper of the grave, 

His frown could wither, and his smile could save. 

Yet, when his heart was hard, his spirit high, 

God drave him from his kingly majesty, 

Far from the brotherhood of fellow-men, 

To seek for dwelling in the desert den; 

Where the wild asses feed and oxen roam, 

He sought his pasture and he made his home ; 

And bitter-biting frost and dews of night, 

Schooled him in sorrow till he knew the right, — 

That God is ruler of the rulers still, 

And setteth up the sovereign that he will. 



CHAPTER- 5, VERSES 17-31 



127 



Oh ! hadst thou treasured in repentant breast 

His pride and fall, his penitence and rest, 

And bowed submissive to Jehovah's will, 

Then had thy scepter been a scepter still. 

But thou hast mocked the Majesty of heaven; 

And shamed the vessels to his service given. 

And thou hast fashioned idols of thine own, — 

Idols of gold, of silver, and of stone; 

To them hast bowed the knee, and breathed the breath, 

And they must help thee in the hour of death. 

Woe for the sight unseen, the sin forgot ! 

God was among ye, and ye knew it not ! 

Hear what he sayeth now : 1 Thy race is run, 

Thy years are numbered, and thy days are done ; 

Thy soul hath mounted in the scale of fate, 

The Lord hath weighed thee, and thou lackest weight; 

JSTow in thy palace porch the spoilers stand, 

To seize thy scepter, to divide thy land.' " 

He ended, and his passing foot was heard, 
But none made answer, not a lip was stirred; 
Mute the free tongue, and bent the f earless brow ; 
The mystic letters had their meaning now. 
Soon came there other sound, — the clash of steel, 
The heavy ringing of the iron heel, 
The curse in dying, and the cry for life, — 
The bloody voices of the battle strife. 

That night they slew him on his father's throne, 
The deed unnoticed and the hand unknown : 
Crownless and scepterless Belshazzar lay, 
A robe of purple round a form of clay. 




CHAPTEE VI. 

Verse 1. It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred 
and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom ; 2. And 
over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first; that the 
princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have 
no damage. 3. Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents 
and princes, because an excellent spirit was found in him; and the 
king thought to set him over the whole realm. 4. Then the presi- 
dents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning 
the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch 
as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. 
5. Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this 
Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God. 

BABYLON was taken by the Persians, and Darius the 
Median placed upon the throne, b. c. 538. Two years 
later, b. c. 536, Darius dying, Cyrus took the throne. 
Somewhere, therefore, between these two dates the event here 
narrated occurred. 

Daniel was a chief actor in the kingdom of Babylon in the 
height of its glory; and from that time on to the time when 
the Medes and Persians took the throne of universal empire, 
he was at least a resident of that city, and acquainted with all 
(128) 



CHAPTER 6, VERSES 1 - 7 



129 



the affairs of the kingdom; jet he gives us no consecutive 
account of events that occurred during his long connection with 
these kingdoms. He only touches upon an event here and 
there such as is calculated to inspire faith and hope and cour- 
age in the hearts of the people of God in every age, and lead 
them to be steadfast in their adherence to the right. 

The event narrated in this chapter is alluded to by the 
apostle Paul in Hebrews 11, where he speaks of some who 
through faith have " stopped the mouths of lions." Darius 
set over the kingdom a hundred and twenty princes, there 
being, as is supposed, at that time a hundred and twenty 
provinces in the empire, each one having its prince, or gov- 
ernor. By the victories of Cambyses and Darius Hystaspes, 
it was afterward enlarged to a hundred and twenty-seven prov- 
inces. Esther 1 : 1. Over these one hundred and twenty 
princes were set three, and of these Daniel was chief. Pref- 
erence was given to Daniel because of his excellent spirit. 
Daniel, who, for being a great man in the empire of Babylon, 
might have been esteemed an enemy by Darius, and so have 
been banished or otherwise put out of the way; or, being a 
captive from a nation then in ruins, might have been despised 
and set at naught, was not treated in either of these ways; 
but to the credit of Darius be it said, Daniel was preferred 
over all the others, because the discerning king saw in him 
an excellent spirit. And the king thought to set him over the 
whole realm. Then was the envy of the other rulers raised 
against him, and they set about to destroy him. But Daniel's 
conduct was perfect so far as related to the kingdom. He was 
faithful and true. They could find no ground for complaint 
against him on that score. Then they said they could find 
no occasion to accuse him, except as concerning the law of 
his God. So let it be with us. A person can have no better 
recommendation. 

Verse 6. Then these presidents and princes assembled together to 
the king, and said thus unto him, King Darins, live forever. 7. All 
the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the 
counselors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a 
royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a 
petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, 0 king, he 



130 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



shall be cast into the den of lions. 8. Now, O king, establish the de- 
cree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the 
law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. 9. Wherefore 
king Darius signed the writing and the decree. 10. Now when Daniel 
knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his 
windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled 
upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before 
his God, as he did aforetime. 

Mark the course these persons took to accomplish their 
nefarious purposes. They came together to the king, — came 
tumultously, says the margin. They came as though some 
urgent matter had suddenly sprung up, and they had come 
unanimously to present it before him. They claimed that all 
were agreed. This was false; for Daniel, the chief of them 
all, was not, of course, consulted in the matter. The decree 
they fixed upon was one which would flatter the king's vanity, 
and thus the more readily gain his assent. It would be a 
position before unheard of, for a man to be the only dispenser 
of favors and granter of petitions for thirty days. Hence the 
king, not fathoming their evil designs, signed the decree, and 
it took its place on the statute-books as one of the unalterable 
laws of the Medes and Persians. 

Mark the subtlety of these men — the length to which peo- 
ple will go to accomplish the ruin of the good. If they had 
made the decree read that no petition should be asked of the 
God of the ITebrews, which was the real design of the matter, 
the king would at once have divined their object, and the de- 
cree would not have been signed. So they gave it a general 
application, and were willing to ignore and heap insult upon 
their whole system of religion, and all the multitude of their 
gods, for the sake of ruining the object of their hatred. 

Daniel foresaw the conspiracy going on against him, but 
took no means to thwart it. He simply committed himself to 
God, and left the issue to his providence. He did not leave 
the empire on pretended business, or perform his devotions 
with more than ordinary secrecy; but when he knew the writ- 
ing was signed, just as aforetime, with his face turned toward 
his beloved Jerusalem, he kneeled down in his chamber three 
times a dav, and poured out his pravers and supplications to 
God. 



CHAPTER 6, VERSES 11-1? 



133 



Verse 11. Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying 
and making supplication before his God. 12. Then they came near, 
and spake before the king concerning the king's decree: Hast thou 
not signed a decree, that every man that shall ask a petition of any 
God or man within thirty days, save of thee, O king, shall be cast 
into the den of lions ? The king answered and said, The thing is true 
according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. 
13. Then answered they and said before the king, That Daniel, which 
is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O 
king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition 
three times a day. 14. Then the king, when he heard these words, 
was sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to de- 
liver him; and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver 
him. 15. Then these men assembled unto the king, and said unto the 
king, Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, That 
no decree nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed. 
16. Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast 
him into the den of lions. ISTow the king spake and said unto Daniel, 
Thy God, whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee. 17. 
And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and 
the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his 
lords, that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel. 

It only remained for these men, having set the trap, to 
watch their victim that they might ensnare him therein. So 
they again came tumultously together, this time at the resi- 
dence of Daniel, as though some important business had called 
them suddenly together to consult the chief of the presidents ; 
and lo, they found him, just as they intended and hoped, 
praying to his God. So far all had worked well. They were 
not long in going to the king with the matter, and, to render 
it more sure, got an acknowledgment from the king that such 
a decree was in force. Then they were ready to inform 
against Daniel ; and mark their mean resort to excite the prej- 
udices of the king : " That Daniel, which is of the children 
of the captivity of Judah." Yes; that poor captive, who is 
entirely dependent on you for all that he enjoys, so far from 
being grateful and appreciating your favors, regards not you, 
nor pays any attention to your decree. Then the king saw 
the trap that had been prepared for him as well as for Dan- 
iel, and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver 
him, probably by personal efforts with the conspirators to cause 
them to relent, or by arguments and endeavors to procure the 
repeal of the law. But they were inexorable. The law was 



134 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



sustained; and Daniel, the venerable, the grave, the upright 
and faultless servant of the kingdom, was thrown, as if he 
had been one of the vilest malefactors, into the den of lions 
to be devoured by them. 

Verse 18. Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night 
fasting; neither were instruments of music brought before him; and 
his sleep went from him. 19. Then the king arose very early in the 
morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions. 20. And when he 
came to the den, he cried -with a lamentable voice unto Daniel; and 
the king spake and said to Daniel, 0 Daniel, servant of the living 
God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee 
from the lions? 21. Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live 
forever. 22. My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' 
mouths, that they have not hurt me; forasmuch as before him inno- 
cency was found in me ; and also before thee, O king, have I done no 
hurt. 23. Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded 
that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken 
up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, be- 
cause he believed in his God. 24. And the king commanded, and 
they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast 
them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; 
and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in 
pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den. 

The course of the king after Daniel had been cast into the 
den of lions attests his genuine interest in his behalf, and the 
severe condemnation he felt for his own course in the matter. 
At earliest dawn he repaired to the den where his prime min- 
ister had passed the night in company with hungry and rav- 
enous beasts. Daniel's response to his first salutation was no 
word of reproach for the king's course in yielding to his per- 
secutors, but a term of respect and honor, " O king, live for- 
ever." He afterward, however, reminds the king, in a manner 
which he must have keenly felt, but to which he could take no 
exception, that before him he had done no hurt. And on 
account of his innocency, God, whom he served continually, 
not at intervals, nor by fits and starts, had sent his angel, and 
shut the lions' mouths. 

Here, then, stood Daniel, preserved by a power higher than 
any power of earth. His cause was vindicated, his innocency 
declared. No hurt was found on him, because he believed in 
his God. Faith did it. A miracle had been wrought. Why, 



CHAPTER 6, VERSES 18 - 28 



135 



then, were Daniel's accusers brought and cast in ? It is con- 
jectured that they attributed the preservation of Daniel, not 
to any miracle in his behalf, but to the fact that the lions 
chanced at that time not to be hungry. Then, said the king, 
they will no more attack you than him, so we will test the 
matter by putting you in. The lions were hungry enough 
when they could get hold of the guilty; and these men were 
torn to pieces ere they reached the bottom of the den. Thus 
was Daniel doubly vindicated; and thus strikingly were the 
words of Solomon fulfilled : " The righteous is delivered out 
of trouble, and the wicked cometh in his stead." Prov. 11 : 8. 

Verse 25. Then king Darius wrote unto all people, nations, and 
languages, that dwell in all the earth : Peace be multiplied unto you. 
26. I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men 
tremble and fear before the God of Daniel; for he is the living God, 
and steadfast forever, and his kingdom that which shall not be de- 
stroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end. 27. He deliver- 
eth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and 
in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions. 
28. So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign 
of Cyrus the Persian. 

The result of Daniel's deliverance was that another procla- 
mation went out through the empire in favor of the true God, 
the God of Israel. All men were to fear and tremble before 
him. What Daniel's enemies designed to prove his ruin, re- 
sulted only in his advancement. In this case, and in the case 
of the three Hebrews in the fiery furnace, the seal of God is 
set in favor of two great lines of duty: (1) As in the case of 
the three in the fiery furnace, not to yield to any known sin; 
and (2) As in the present case, not to omit any known duty. 
And from these instances, the people of God in all ages are to 
derive encouragement. 

The decree of the king sets forth the character of the true 
God in fine terms. ( 1 ) He is the living God ; all others are 
dead. (2) He is steadfast forever; all others change. (3) 
He has a kingdom; for he made and governs all. (4) His 
kingdom shall not be destroyed ; all others come to an end. 
(5) His dominion is without end; no human power can prevail 
against it. ( 6 ) He delivereth those who are in bondage. ( 7 ) 



136 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



He rescueth his servants from their enemies when they call 
upon him for help. (8) He worketh wonders in the heavens 
and signs upon the earth. (9) And to complete all, he hath 
delivered Daniel, giving before our own eyes the fullest proof 
of his power and goodness in rescuing his servant from the 
power of the lions. How excellent an eulogium is this on the 
great God and his faithful servant ! 

Thus closes the historical part of the book of Daniel. We 
now come to the prophetic portion, which, like a shining bea- 
con light, has thrown its rays over all the course of time from 
that point to the present, and is still lighting up the pathway 
of the church onward to the eternal kingdom. 




THE LION -- SYMBOL OF BABYLON 




THE FOUR BEASTS 



CHAPTEK VII. 

Verse 1. In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel 
had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed; then he wrote the 
dream, and told the snm of the matters. 

THIS is the same Belshazzar mentioned in chapter 5. 
Chronologically, therefore, this chapter precedes chapter 
5 ; but chronological order has been disregarded in order 
that the historical part of the book might stand by itself, 
and the prophetic part, on which we now enter, might not 
be interrupted by waitings of that nature. 

Verse 2. Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, 
behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. 3. 
And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. 

All Scripture language is to be taken literally, unless there 
exists some good reason for supposing it to be figurative ; and 
all that is figurative is to be interpreted by that wdiich is lit- 
eral. That the language here used is symbolic, is evident from 
verse 17, "which reads, " These great beasts, wdiich are four,' are 
four kings which shall arise out of the earth." And to show 
that kingdoms are intended, and not merely individual kings, 

(139) 



140 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



the angel continues, " But the saints of the Most High shall 
take the kingdom." And further, in the explanation of verse 
23, the angel said, " The fourth beast shall be the fourth king- 
dom upon earth." These beasts are therefore symbols of 
four great kingdoms; and the circumstances under which they 
arose, and the means by which their elevation was accomplished, 
as represented in the prophecy, are symbolic also. The sym- 
bols introduced are, the four winds, the sea, four great beasts, 
ten horns, and another horn which had eyes and a mouth, and 
rose up in war against God and his people. We have now to 
inquire what they denote. 

Winds, in symbolic language, denote strife, political com- 
motion, and war. Jer. 25 : 31, 32, 33 : " Thus saith the Lord 
of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and 
a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the 
earth. And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from 
one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth." 
Here the prophet speaks of a controversy which the Lord is to 
have with all nations, when the wicked shall be given to the 
sword, and the slain of the Lord shall be from one end of the 
earth to the other; and the strife and commotion which pro- 
duces all this destruction is called a great whirlwind. 

That winds denote strife and war is further evident from 
a consideration of the vision itself; for as the result of the 
striving of the winds, kingdoms arise and fall ; and these 
events are accomplished through political strife. 

The Bible definition of sea, or waters, when used as a sym- 
bol, is peoples, and nations, and tongues. In proof of this, 
see Rev. 17 : 15, where it is expressly so declared. 

The definition of the symbol of the four beasts is given 
to Daniel ere the close of the vision. Verse 17 : " These great 
beasts, which are four, are four kings which shall arise out of 
the earth." The field of the vision is thus definitely opened 
before us. 

Verse 4. The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings ; I beheld 
till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted np from the 
earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart 
was given to it. 



CHAPTER 1, VERSES k, 5 



143 



As these beasts denote four kings, or kingdoms, we inquire, 
What four ? Where shall we commence to enumerate ? These 
beasts do not rise all at once, but consecutively, as they are 
spoken of as first, second, etc. ; and the last one is in existence 
when all earthly scenes are brought to an end by the final 
Judgment. Now, from the time of Daniel to the end of this 
world's history, there were to be but four universal kingdoms, 
as we learn from Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the great image 
in chapter 2. Daniel was still living under the same king- 
dom which he had declared, in his interpretation of the king's 
dream, about sixty-five years before, to be the head of gold. 
The first beast of this vision must therefore denote the same 
as the head of gold of the great image, namely, the kingdom 
of Babylon, and the other beasts the succeeding kingdoms shown 
by that image. But if this vision covers essentially the same 
ground as the image of chapter 2, the query may arise why 
it is given ; why was not the vision of chapter 2 sufficient ? 
We answer, The ground is passed over again and again that 
additional characteristics may be brought out, and additional 
facts and features may be presented. It is thus that we have 
" line upon line." Here earthly governments are viewed as 
represented in the light of Heaven. Their true character is 
shown by the symbol of wild and ravenous beasts. 

At first the lion had eagle's wings, denoting the rapidity 
with which Babylon extended its conquests under Nebuchad- 
nezzar. At this point in the vision a change had taken place ; 
its wings had been plucked. It no longer flew like an eagle 
upon its prey. The boldness and spirit of the lion were gone. 
A man's heart, weak, timorous, and faint, had taken its place. 
Such was emphatically the case with the nation during the clos- 
ing years of its history, when it had become enfeebled and 
effeminate through wealth and luxury. 

Verse 5. And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and 
it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of 
it between the teeth of it; and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour 
much flesh. 

As in the great image of chapter 2, so in this series of sym- 
bols a marked deterioration will be noticed as we descend from 



144 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



one kingdom to another. The silver of the breast and arms 
was inferior to the gold of the head. The bear was inferior 
to the lion. Medo-Persia fell short of Babylon in wealth and 
magnificence, and the brilliancy of its career. And now we 
come to additional particulars respecting this power. The bear 
raised itself up on one side. This kingdom was composed of 
two nationalities, the Medes and Persians. The same fact 
is represented by the two horns of the ram of chapter 8. Of 
these horns it is said that the higher came up last; and of the 
bear that it raised itself up on one side ; and this was fulfilled 
by the Persian division of the kingdom, which came up last, 
but attained the higher eminence, becoming the controlling in- 
fluence in the nation. (See on chapter 8:3.) The three ribs 
perhaps signify the three provinces of Babylon, Lydia, and 
Egypt, which were especially ground down and oppressed by 
this power. Their saying unto it, "Arise, devour much flesh," 
would naturally refer to the stimulus given to the Medes and 
Persians, by the overthrow of these provinces, to plan and 
undertake more extensive conquests. The character of the 
power is well represented by a bear. The Medes and Persians 
were cruel and rapacious, robbers and spoilers of the people. 
As already noticed in the exposition of chapter 2, this king- 
dom dated from the overthrow of Babylon by Cyrus, b. c. 
538, and continued to the battle of Arbela, b. c. 331, a period 
of 207 years. 

Verse 6. After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which 
had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also 
four heads ; and dominion was given to it. 

The third kingdom, Grecia, is represented by this symbol. 
If wings upon the lion signified rapidity of conquest, they 
would signify the same here. The leopard itself is a swift- 
footed beast, but this was not sufficient to represent the career 
of the nation which it symbolized in this respect ; it must have 
wings in addition. Two wings, the number the lion had, were 
not sufficient, it must have four; this would denote unparal- 
leled celerity of movement, which we find to be historically 
true of the Grecian kingdom. The conquests of Grecia under 



THE FOURTH BEAST-- SYMBOL OF ROME 



CHAPTER 1, VERSES 6, 7 



149 



Alexander have no parallel in historic annals for suddenness 
and rapidity. 

Pollin, Ancient History, b. 15, sec. 2, gives the following 
brief synopsis of Alexander's marches : — 

" From Macedonia to the Ganges, which river Alexander 
nearly approached, is computed at least eleven hundred leagues. 
Add to this the various turnings in Alexander's marches ; first, 
from the extremity of Cilicia, where the battle of Issus was 
fought, to the temple of Jupiter Amnion in Libya; and his 
returning from thence to Tyre, a journey of three hundred 
leagues at least, and as much space at least for the windings 
of his route in different places ; we shall find that Alexander, 
in less than eight years, marched his army upward of seven- 
teen hundred leagues [or more than fifty-one hundred miles'], 
without including his return to Babylon." 

" The beast had also four heads." The Grecian empire 
maintained its unity but little longer than the lifetime of 
Alexander. Within fifteen years after his brilliant career 
ended in a fever induced by a drunken debauch, the empire 
was divided among his four leading generals. Cassander had 
Macedon and Greece in the west ; Lysimachus had Thrace and 
the parts of Asia on the Hellespont and Bosphorus in the 
north; Ptolemy received Egypt, Lydia, Arabia, Palestine, and 
Coele-Syria in the south; and Seleucus had Syria and all the 
rest of Alexander's dominions in the east. These divisions 
were denoted by the four heads of the leopard; b. c. 308. 

Thus accurately were the words of the prophet fulfilled. 
As Alexander left no available successor, why did not the huge 
empire break up into countless petty fragments % Why into 
just four parts, and no more ? — Because the prophecy had 
said that there should be four. The leopard had four heads, 
the rough goat four horns, the kingdom was to have four di- 
visions; and thus it was. (See more fully on chapter 8.) 

Verse 1. After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth 
beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great 
iron teeth; it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue 
with the feet of it; and it was diverse from all the beasts that were 
before it; and it had ten horns. 



150 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



Inspiration finds no beast in nature which it can make even 
the basis of a symbol to represent the power here illustrated. 
ISfo addition of hoofs, heads, horns, wings, scales, teeth, or nails 
to any beast found in nature, would answer. This power was 
diverse from all the others, and the symbol wholly nondescript. 

The foundation for a volume is laid in verse 7, just quoted; 
but we are compelled to treat it the more briefly here, because 
anything like a full history is entirely beyond the space that 
can be allowed in this brief exposition. This beast, of course, 
corresponds to the fourth division of the great image — the 
legs of iron. Under chapter 2 : 40 are given some reasons 
for supposing this power to be Rome. The same reasons are 
applicable to the present prophecy. How accurately Rome 
answered to the iron division of the image ! How accurately 
it answers to the beast before us ! In the dread and terror 
which it inspired, and in its exceeding strength, the world has 
never seen its equal. It devoured as with iron teeth, and 
brake in pieces ; and it ground the nations into the very dust 
beneath its brazen feet. It had ten horns, which are explained 
in verse 21 to be ten kings, or kingdoms, which should arise 
out of this empire. As already noticed in chapter 2, Rome 
was divided into ten kingdoms, enumerated as follows: The 
Huns, the Ostrogoths, the Visigoths, the Franks, the Vandals, 
the Suevi, the Burgundians, the Heruli, the Anglo-Saxons, and 
the Lombards. These divisions have ever since been spoken 
of as the ten kingdoms of the Roman empire; a. d. 351 -483. 
See on chapter 2 : 41, 42 ; also Appendix III. 

Verse 8. I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up 
among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the 
first horns plucked up by the roots; and, behold, in this horn were 
eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things. 

Daniel considered the horns. Indications of a strange 
movement appeared among them. A little horn (at first lit- 
tle, but afterward more stout than its fellows) thrust itself 
up among them. It was not content quietly to find a place 
of its own, and fill it ; it must thrust aside some of the others, 
and usurp their places. Three kingdoms were plucked up 
before it. This little horn, as we shall have occasion to notice 



THE LITTLE HORN ■■ SYMBOL OF THE PAPACY 



CHAPTER 7, VERSES 8 - 10 



153 



more fully hereafter, was the papacy. The three horns plucked 
up before it were the Heruli, the Ostrogoths, and the Vandals. 
And the reason why they were plucked up was because they 
were opposed to the arrogant claims of the papal hierarchy, 
and hence to the supremacy in the church of the bishop of 
Kome. 

And " in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a 
mouth speaking great things," — the eyes, a fit emblem of the 
shrewdness, penetration, cunning, and foresight of the papal 
hierarchy ; and the mouth' speaking great things, a fit symbol 
of the arrogant claims of the bishops of Rome. 

Verse 9. I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient 
of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his 
head like the pure wool; his throne was like the fiery flame, and his 
wheels as burning fire. 10. A fiery stream issued and came forth 
from before him; thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten 
thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the judgment was 
set, and the books were opened. 

A sublimer description of a sublimer scene is not to be 
found in the English language. But not only on account of 
the grand and lofty imagery introduced 'should it arrest our 
attention ; the nature of the scene itself is such as to demand 
most serious consideration. The Judgment is brought to view ; 
and whenever the Judgment is mentioned, it ought to take an 
irresistible hold upon every mind; for all have an interest in 
its eternal issues. 

By an unfortunate translation in verse 9, a wrong idea is 
almost sure to be conveyed. The words cast down are from a 
word which in the original signifies just the opposite, namely, 
to set up. The word i"JD*") [r'maK] Gesenius defines as follows : 
"Chald. 1. To cast, to throw, Dan. 3:20, 21, 24; 6:16. 2. 
To set, to place, e. g., thrones, Dan. 7 : 9. Comp. Rev. 4 : 2, 
and m> No. 2." The Analvtical Hebrew and 
Chaldee Lexicon, by Davidson, also gives to this word the 
definition " to set, to place," and refers to Dan. 7:9 as an 
example of its use in this sense. Why this word was used to 
express the idea here intended may perhaps be learned from 
the following note found in the Cottage Bible: " Ver. 9. The 



154 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



thrones were cast down. Wintle, ' Were placed,' So Booth- 
royd. But both come to the same meaning. The Asiatics 
have neither chairs nor stools, but, to receive persons of rank, 
i cast down/ or ' place/ cushions round the room for seats, 
which seems to be here alluded to. See Matt. 19 : 28 ; Rev. 
20:4." Dr. Clarke says that the word " might be translated 
erected; so the Vulgate, positi sunt [were placed], and so all 
the versions." The Septuagint has iTeOrjo-av(etethesan), which 
is defined to mean "to set, put, place; to set up; to erect." 
The thrones are not the thrones of earthly kingdoms, which 
are to be thrown down at the last day, but thrones of judgment, 
which are to be " placed," or set up, in the court of God on 
high just before the end. 

The "Ancient of days," God the Father, takes the throne 
of judgment. Mark the description of his person. Those 
who believe in the impersonality of God are obliged to admit 
that he is here described as a personal being; but they console 
themselves by saying that it is the only description of the kind 
in the Bible. We do not admit this latter assertion; but 
granting that it were true, is not one description of this kind 
as fatal to their theory as though it were repeated a score of 
times ? The thousand thousands who minister unto him, and 
the ten thousand times ten thousand who stand before him, are 
not sinners arraigned before the judgment-seat, but heavenly 
beings who wait before him, attendant on his will. An under- 
standing of these verses involves an understanding of the sub- 
ject of the sanctuary; and to the works on this question we refer 
the reader. The closing up of the ministration of Christ, our 
great High Priest, in the heavenly sanctuary, is the work of 
judgment here introduced. It is an investigative judgment. 
The books are opened, and the cases of all come up for exami- 
nation before that great tribunal, that it may be determined 
beforehand who are to receive eternal life when the Lord shall 
come to confer it upon his people. John, as recorded in Reve- 
lation 5, had a view of this same place, and saw the same 
number of heavenly attendants engaged with Christ in the work 
of investigative judgment. Looking into the sanctuary (as we 
learn from Revelation 4 that he was doing), in chapter 5: 11 



CHAPTER 7, VERSES 9 - 12 



155 



he says, "And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels 
round about the throne, and the beasts, and the elders; and 
the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, 
and thousands of thousands." 

It will appear from the testimony of chapter 8 : 14, that 
this solemn work is even now transpiring in the sanctuary 
above. 

Verse 11. I beheld then because of the voice of the great words 
which the horn spake; I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his 
body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. 12. As concerning 
the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away; yet their 
lives were prolonged for a season and time. 

There are persons who believe in a thousand years' triumph 
of the gospel and reign of righteousness over all the world be- 
fore the Lord comes; and there are others who believe in pro- 
bation after the Lord comes, and a mixed millennium, the 
immortal righteous still proclaiming the gospel to mortal sin- 
ners, and turning them into the way of salvation. But both 
of these systems of error are completely demolished by the 
verses before us. 

1. The fourth terrible beast continues without change of 
character, and the little horn continues to utter its blasphemies, 
and hold its millions of votaries in the bonds of a blind super- 
stition, till the beast is given to the burning flame ; and this is 
not its conversion, but its destruction. (See 2 Thess. 2:8.) 

2. The life of the fourth beast is not prolonged after its 
dominion is gone, as were the lives of the preceding beasts. 
Their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged 
for a season. The territory and subjects of the Babylonian 
kingdom still existed, though made subject to the Persians. 
So of the Persian kingdom in respect to Grecia, and of Grecia 
in respect to Rome. But what succeeds the fourth kingdom ? 
— ■ No government or state in which mortals have any part. 
Its career ends in the lake of fire, and it has no existence be- 
yond. The lion was merged into the bear; the bear into the 
leopard ; the leopard into the fourth beast ; and the fourth beast 
into what ? — Not into another beast ; but it is cast into the 
lake of fire, under which destruction it rests till men shall 



156 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



suffer the second death. Then let no one talk of probation 
or a mixed millennium after the Lord comes. 

The adverb then, in the sentence, " I beheld then because 
of the voice of the great words which the horn spake/' etc., 
seems to refer to some particular time. The work of the in- 
vestigative judgment is introduced in the previous verses; and 
this verse would seem to imply 1 that while this work is going for- 
ward, and just before this power is destroyed and given to the 
burning flame, the little horn utters its great words against the 
Most High. Have we not heard them, and that, too, within a 
few years % Look at the decrees of the Vatican Council of 
1870. What can be more blasphemous than to attribute in- 
fallibility to a mortal man ? Yet in that year the world beheld 
the spectacle of an Ecumenical Council assembled for the pur- 
pose of deliberately decreeing that the occupant of the papal 
throne, the man of sin, possesses this prerogative of God, and 
can not err. Can anything be more presumptuous and blas- 
phemous ? Is not this the voice of the great words which the 
horn spake ? and is not this power ripe for the burning flame, 
and near its end ? 

Verse 13. I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son 
of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of 
days, and they brought him near before him. 14. And there was 
given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, na- 
tions, and languages should serve him : his dominion is an everlasting 
dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which 
shall not be destroyed. 

The scene here described is not the second advent of Christ 
to this earth, unless the Ancient of days is on this earth ; for 
it is a coming to the Ancient of days. There, in the presence 
of the Ancient of days, a kingdom, dominion, and glory are 
given him. The Son of man receives his kingdom before his 
return to this earth. (See Luke 19:10-12 and onward.) 
This is a scene, therefore, which transpires in the heavenly 
temple, and is closely connected with that brought to view in 
verses 9 and 10. He receives the kingdom at the close of his 
priestly work in the sanctuary. The people, nations, and lan- 
guages, that shall serve him, are the nations of the saved (Rev. 



CHAPTER 7, VERSES 13-20 157 

21:24), not the wicked nations of the earth; for these are 
dashed in pieces at the second advent. Some ont of all the 
nations, tribes, and kindreds of the earth will find themselves 
at last in the kingdom of God, to serve him there with joy and 
gladness forever and ever. 

Verse 15. I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my 
body, and the visions of my head troubled me. 16. I came near unto 
one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So 
he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things. 17. 
These great beasts, which are four, are four kings which shall arise 
out of the earth. 18. But the saints of the Most High shall take the 
kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever. 

Xo less anxious should we 'be than was Daniel to under- 
stand the truth of all this. And whenever we inquire with 
equal sincerity of heart, we shall find the Lord no less ready 
now than in the days of the prophet to lead to a correct knowl- 
edge of these important truths. The beasts, and the kingdoms 
which they represent, have already been explained. We have 
if olio wed the prophet down through the course of events, even 
to the complete destruction of the fourth and last beast, the final 
subversion of all earthly governments. What next ? Verse 
18 tells us : " The saints shall take the kingdom." The saints ! 
those of all others held in low esteem in this world, despised, 
reproached, persecuted, cast out ; those who were considered 
the least likely of all men ever to realize their hopes ; these 
shall take the kingdom, and possess it forever. The usurpation 
and misrule of the wicked shall come to an end. The forfeited 
inheritance shall be redeemed. Peace shall be restored to its 
distracted borders, and righteousness shall reign over^ all the 
fair expanse of the renovated earth. 

Verse 19. Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which 
was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were 
of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and 
stamped the residue with his feet ; 20. And of the ten horns that were 
in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three 
fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very 
great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. 

Of the first three beasts of this series, Daniel had so clear 
an understanding that he had no trouble in reference to them. 



158 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



But he was astonished at this fourth beast, so unnatural and 
dreadful; for the further we come down the stream of time, 
the further it is necessary to depart from nature in forming 
symbols to represent accurately the degenerating governments 
of this earth. The lion is a production of nature ; but it must 
have the unnatural addition of two wings to represent the 
kingdom of Babylon. The bear we also find in nature; but 
as a symbol of Medo-Persia an unnatural ferocity must be 
denoted by the insertion of three ribs into its mouth. So the 
leopard is a beast of nature ; but fitly to represent Grecia there 
is a departure from nature in respect to wings, and the number 
of heads. But nature furnishes no symbol which can fitly 
illustrate the fourth kingdom. A beast the likeness of which 
never was seen, is taken; a beast dreadful and terrible, with 
nails of brass, and teeth of iron, so cruel, rapacious, and fierce 
that from mere love of oppression it devoured, and brake in 
pieces, and trampled its victims beneath its feet. 

Wonderful was all this to the prophet; but something still 
more wonderful appeared. A little horn came up, and, true to 
the nature of the beast from which it sprang, thrust aside 
three of- its fellows; and lo ! the horn had eyes, not the uncul- 
tivated eyes of a brute, but the keen, shrewd, intelligent eyes 
of a man; and, stranger yet, it had a mouth, and with that 
mouth it uttered proud sayings, and put forth preposterous 
and arrogant claims. ~No wonder the prophet made special in- 
quiry respecting this monster, so unearthly in its instincts, and 
so fiendish in its works and ways. In the following verses 
some specifications are given respecting the little horn, which 
enable^the student of prophecy to make an application of this 
symbol without danger of mistake. 

Verse 21. I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, 
and prevailed against them; 22. Until the Ancient of days came, and 
judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and the time 
came that the saints possessed the kingdom. 

The wonderful wrath of this little horn against the saints 
particularly attracted the attention of Daniel. The rise of the 
ten horns, or the division of Rome into ten kingdoms, between 
the years a. d. 351 and 483, has already been noticed. (See 



CHAPTER 7, VERSES 21, 22 



161 



on chapter 2 : 41. ) As these horns denote kingdoms, the little 
horn must denote a kingdom also, but not of the same nature, 
because it was diverse from the others. They were political 
kingdoms. And now we have but to inquire if any kingdom 
has arisen among the ten kingdoms of the Roman empire since 
a. d. 483, and yet diverse from them all ; and if so, what one. 
The answer is, Yes ; the spiritual kingdom of the papacy. 
This answers to the symbol in every particular, as is easily 
proved; and nothing else will do it. See the specifications 
more particularly mentioned in verse 23. 

Daniel beheld this horn making war upon the saints. Has 
such a war been waged by the papacy ? Fifty million mar- 
tyrs, with a voice like the sound of many waters, answer, Yes. 
Witness the cruel persecutions of the Waldenses, the Albigen- 
ses, and Protestants in general, by the papal power. It is 
stated on good authority that the persecutions, massacres, and 
religious wars excited by the church and bishop of Rome, have 
occasioned the shedding of far more blood of the saints of the 
Most High than all the enmity, hostility, and persecutions of 
professed heathens from the foundation of the world. 

In verse 22 three consecutive events seem to be brought to 
view. Daniel, looking onward from the time when the little 
horn was in the height of its power, to the full end of the long 
contest between the saints and Satan with all his agents, notes 
three prominent events that stand as mile-posts along the way. 
(1) The coming of the Ancient of days ; that is, the position 
which Jehovah takes in the opening of the judgment scene de- 
scribed in verses 9, 10. (2) The judgment that is given to 
the saints ; that is, the time when the saints sit with Christ in 
judgment a thousand years, following the first resurrection 
(Rev. 20:1-4), apportioning to the wielded the punishment 
due to their sins. Then the martyrs will sit in judgment 
upon the great antichristian, persecuting power, which, in 
the days of their trial, hunted them like the beasts of the des- 
ert, and poured out their blood like water. (3) The time that 
the saints possess the kingdom; that is, the time of their en- 
trance upon the possession of the new earth. Then the last 
vestige of the curse, of sin, and of sinners, root and branch, 



162 PROPHECY OF DANIEL 

will have been wiped away, and the territory so long mis- 
ruled by the wicked powers of earth, the enemies of God's 
people, will be taken by the righteous, to be held by them 
forever and ever. 1 Cor. 6:2, 3 ; Matt. 25 : 34. 

Verse 23. Thus he said, The fourth beast - shall be the fourth 
kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and 
shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in 
pieces. 24. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings 
that shall arise; and another shall rise after them; and he shall be 
diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. 25. And he 
shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out 
the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws: 
and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the 
dividing of time. 26. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall 
take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. 

We have here further particulars respecting the fourth 
beast and the little horn. 

Perhaps enough has already been said respecting the fourth 
beast (Rome) and the ten horns, or ten kingdoms, which arose 
therefrom. The little horn now more particularly demands 
attention. As stated on verse 8, we find the fulfilment of the 
prophecy concerning this horn in the rise and work of the 
papacy. It is a matter of both interest and importance, 'here- 
fore, to inquire into the causes which resulted in the de/elop- 
ment of this antichristian power. 

The first pastors or bishops of Rome enjoyed a respect pro- 
portionate to the rank of the city in which they resided; and 
for the first few centuries' of the Christian era, Rome was the 
largest, richest, and most powerful city in the world. It was 
the seat of empire, the capital of the nations. "All the inhab- 
itants of the earth belong to her/' said Julian; and Claudian 
declared her to be " the fountain of laws." " If Rome is the 
queen of cities, why should not her pastor be the king of 
bishops ? " was the reasoning these Roman pastors adopted. 
" Why should not the Roman Church be the mother of Chris- 
tendom ? Why should not all nations be her children, and her 
authority their sovereign law? It was easy," says D'Aubigne, 
from whom we quote these words ("History of the Reforma- 
tion," Vol. I, chap. 1), "for the ambitious heart of man to 
reason thus. Ambitious Rome did so." 




HnP Sop spatic all these worPs, saying, II am 3enovab tby SoP. who brought tbee out 
of tbc lanp of Egypt, out of tbe bouse of bonoage. 

i. 

Cbou sbalt bave no otber cobs before me. 

u. 

Cbou sbalt not mane unto tbec a graven image, nor an? Iifccncss of anything tbat le 
tn heaven above, or tbat 19 in tbe cartb bencatb. or tbat Is in tlx water unPcr tbe cartb: 
tbou shall not bow Pown thyself unto tbeni, nor serve tbcm; for 11 3cbovab tby Soo am a 
tcalous GoP. visiting tbc iniquity of tbe fathers upon tbc cbilPren, upon tbc tbirP anO upon 
tbe fourth generation of tbcm tbat bate me, anP showing lovinghlnPncss unto tbousanPs of 
them that love mc anP ftccp niv commanpmcnts. 

Cbou sbalt not tafte tbe name of 3"cbovab tby SoP In vain; for 3cbovab will no' holo 
bim guiltless that tafcetb bis name in vain. 

IV. 

■Remember the Sabbath pa?, to Seep it boly. Six Pays sbalt thou labor. anP po all 
tbv work; but tbc seventh Pay is a Sabbath unto 3cbovab thy 00P: in It thou sbalt not Po 
any wort;, thou, nor tbv son, nor tbv Paughtcr, tbv man-servant, nor tbv maiP-servant, nor 
tbv cattle, nor thy stranger that is within tby gates: for in six Pays Jehovah maPc heaven 
nnP earth, tbe sea. anP all tbat in tbcm is. anP restcP tbc seventh Pay: wherefore 3cbovab 
blcsscP tbe Sabbath Pay, anP ballowco it. 

v. 

■fconor thy father anP tny mother, tbat tby Pays may be long In tbc lanP which 3ebo» 
vab thy Sob givetb tbec. 

VL 

Cbou shall not hill. 

VII. 

Cbou sbalt not commit abutter;. 

VIII. 

Cbou sbalt not steal. 

IX. 

Cbou shall not bear lalsc witness against tby neighbor. 

x. 

Cbou sbalt not covet tby neighbor's bouse, tbou sbalt not covet tby neighbor's wife, 
nor bis man»8crvant, nor bis maiP-scrvant, nor bis ox, nor bis ass, nor anything tbat is 
tby neighbor's. 



CHAPTER 1, VERSES 23 - 26 



165 



The bishops in the different parts of the Roman -empire felt 
a pleasure in yielding to the bishop of Rome some portion of 
that honor which Rome, as the queen city, received from the 
nations of the earth. There was originally no dependence im- 
plied in the honor thus paid. " But," continues D'Aubigne, 
" usurped power increases like an avalanche. Admonitions, at 
first simply fraternal, soon became absolute commands in the 
mouth of the pontiff. The Western bishops favored this en- 
croachment of the Roman pastors, either from jealousy of the 
Eastern bishops, or because they preferred submitting to the 
supremacy of a pope rather than to the dominion of a temporal 
power." 

Such were the influences clustering around the bishop of 
Rome, and thus was everything tending toward his speedy ele- 
vation to the supreme spiritual throne of Christendom. But 
the fourth century was destined to witness an obstacle thrown 
across the path of this ambitious dream. Arius, parish priest 
of the ancient and influential church of Alexandria, sprung 
his doctrine upon the world, occasioning so fierce a controversy 
in the Christian church that a general council was called at 
Nicsea, by the emperor Constantine, a. d. 325, to consider and 
adjust it. Arius maintained " that the Son was totally and 
essentially distinct from the Father ; that he was • the first 
and noblest of those beings whom the Father had created out 
of nothing, the instrument by whose subordinate operation the 
Almighty Father formed the universe, and therefore inferior 
to the Father both in nature and dignity." This opinion was 
condemned by the council, which decreed that Christ was of 
one and the same substance with the Father. Hereupon Arius 
was banished to Illyria, and his followers were compelled to 
give their assent to the creed composed on that occasion. 
(Mosheim, cent. 4, part 2, chap. 4; Stanley, History of the 
Eastern Church, p. 239.) 

The controversy itself, however, was not to be disposed of 
in this summary manner, but continued for ages to agitate the 
Christian world, the Arians everywhere becoming the bitter 
enemies of the pope and of the Roman Catholic Church. 
From these facts it is evident that the spread of Arianism 
11 



166 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



would cheek the influence of the Catholics; and the possession 
of Rome and Italy by a people of the x\rian persuasion, would 
be fatal to the supremacy of a Catholic bishop. But the 
prophecy had declared that this horn would rise to supreme 
power, and that in reaching this position it would subdue three 
kings. 

Some difference of opinion has existed in regard to the par- 
ticular powers which were overthrown in the interest of the 
papacy, in reference to which the following remark by Albert 
Barnes seems very pertinent: " In the confusion that existed 
on the breaking up of the Roman empire, and the imperfect 
accounts of the transactions which occurred in the rise of the 
papal power, it would not be wonderful if it should be difficult 
to find events distinctly recorded that would be in all respects 
an accurate and absolute fulfilment of the vision. Yet it is 
possible to make out the fulfilment of this with a good degree 
of certainty in the history of the papacy." — Notes on Daniel 7. 

Mr. Mede supposes the three kingdoms plucked up to have 
been the Greeks, the Lombards, and the Franks ; and Sir Isaac 
Newton supposes they were the Exarchate of Ravenna, the 
Lombards, and the Senate and Dukedom of Rome. Bishop 
Newton (Dissertation on the Prophecies, pp. 217, 218) states 
some serious objections to both these schemes. The Franks 
could not have been one of these kingdoms ; for they were 
never plucked up before the papacy. The Lombards could 
not have been one ; for they were never made subject to the 
popes. Says Barnes, "I do not find, indeed, that the king-, 
dom of the Lombards was, as is commonly stated, among the 
number of the temporal sovereignties that becarae subject to 
the authority of the popes." And the Senate and Dukedom 
of Rome could not have been one ; for they, as such, never 
constituted one of the ten kingdoms, three of which were to 
be plucked up before the little horn. 

But we apprehend that the chief difficulty in the applica- 
tion made by these eminent commentators, lay in the fact that 
they supposed that the prophecy respecting the exaltation of 
the papacy had not been fulfilled, and could not have been, 
till the pope became a temporal prince ; and hence they sought 




% am the t,nnl thg dtim: thnn strait 
net haixe strange gctls brfirre mib. 

ir. 

Thau strait not take the nam* of the 
knrtt th£ <&a*i in want. 

in. 

^emsmlwr that ihxm tan hols the 
Sabbath xlag. 

IV. 

Htxnmxv thg father &ttxl thg mother. 

V. 

Thou strait not kill. 

VI. 

Thou strait not txxmmit axtulterg. 

VII. 

Thou strait not steal. 



Thou strait trot bear false witness 
against thg neighbor. 

IX. 

Thou strait not rouet thg neighbor's 
wife. 

X. 

Thou shalt net rouet thg neighbor's 
gooos. 




CHAPTER 7, VERSES 23 - 26 



169 



to find an accomplishment of the prophecy in the events which 
led to the pope's temporal sovereignty. Whereas, evidently, 
the prophecy of verses 24, 25 refers, not to his civil power, 
but to his power to domineer over the minds and consciences 
of men; and the pope reached this position, as will hereafter 
appear, in a. d. 538; and the plucking up of the three horns 
took place before this, and to make way for this very exalta- 
tion to spiritual dominion. The insuperable difficulty in the 
way of all attempts to apply the prophecy to the Lombards 
and the other powers named above is that they come al- 
together too late in point of time; for the prophecy deals with 
the arrogant efforts of the Roman pontiff to gain power, not 
with his endeavors to oppress and humble the nations after he 
had secured the supremacy. 

The position is here confidently taken that the three powers, 
or horns, plucked up before the papacy, were the Heruli, the 
Vandals, and the Ostrogoths ; and this position rests upon the 
following statements of historians. 

Odoacer, the leader of the Heruli, w r as the first of the bar- 
barians who reigned over the Romans. He took the throne of 
Italy, according to Gibbon (Decline and Fall of the Roman 
Empire, Vol. Ill, pp. 510, 515), in 476. Of his religious 
belief Gibbon (p. 516) says: " Like the rest of the barbarians, 
he had been instructed in the Arian heresy; but he revered the 
monastic and episcopal characters, and the silence of the Cath- 
olics attests the toleration which they enjoyed." 

Again he says (p. 547) : " The Ostrogoths, the Burgundians, 
the Suevi, and the Vandals, who had listened to the eloquence 
of the Latin clergy, preferred the more intelligible lessons of 
their domestic teachers; and Arianism was adopted as the na- 
tional faith of the warlike converts who were seated on the 
ruins of the Western empire. This irreconcilable difference of 
religion was a perpetual source of jealousy and hatred ; and 
the reproach of barbarian was embittered by the more odious 
epithet of heretic. The heroes of the North, who had sub- 
mitted, with some reluctance, to believe that all their ances- 
tors were in hell, were astonished and exasperated to learn 



170 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



that they themselves had only changed the mode of their eter- 
nal condemnation." 

The reader is requested to consider carefully a few more 
historical statements which throw some light on the situation 
at this time. Stanley (History of the Eastern Church, p. 151) 
says : " The whole of the vast Gothic population which de- 
scended on the Roman empire, so far as it was Christian at 
all, held to the faith of the Alexandrian heretic. Our first 
Teutonic version of the Scriptures was by an Arian missionary, 
Ulfilas. The first conqueror of Rome, Alaric, and the first 
conqueror of Africa, Genseric, were Arians. Theodoric, the 
great king of Italy, and hero of the ' Nibelungen Lied/ was 
an Arian. The vacant place in his massive tomb at Ravenna 
is a witness of the vengeance which the Orthodox took on his 
memory, when, in their triumph, they tore down the porphyry 
vase in which his Arian subjects had enshrined his ashes." 

Ranke, in his History of the Popes (London, edition of 
1871), Vol. I, p. 9, says: "But she [the church] fell, as was 
inevitable, into many embarrassments, and found herself in an 
entirely altered condition. A pagan people took possession of 
Britain ; Arian kings seized the greater part of the remaining 
West ; while the Lombards, long attached to Arianism, and as 
neighbors most dangerous and hostile, established a powerful 
sovereignty before the very gates of Rome. The Roman bish- 
ops, meanwhile, beset on all sides, exerted themselves with all 
the prudence and pertinacity which have remained their pecul- 
iar attributes, to regain the mastery, at least in the patriarchal 
diocese." 

Machiavelli, in his History of Florence, p. 14, says: 
ISTearly all the wars which the northern barbarians carried 
on in Italy, it may be here remarked, were occasioned by the 
pontiffs; and the hordes with which the country was inun- 
dated, were generally called in by them." 

These extracts give us a general view of the state of affairs 
at this time, and show us that though the hands of the Roman 
pontiffs might not be visibly manifest in the movements upon 
the political board, they constituted the power working assidu- 
ously behind the scenes to secure their own purposes. The 



CHAPTER 7, VERSES 23 - 26 



171 



relation which these Arian kings sustained to the pope, from 
which we can see the necessity of their being overthrown to 
make way for papal supremacy, is shown in the following tes- 
timony from Mosheim, given in his History of the Church, 
cent. 6, part 2, chap. 2, sec. 2 : — 

" On the other hand, it is certain, from a variety of the 
most authentic records, that both the emperors and the nations 
in general were far from being disposed to bear with patience 
the yoke of servitude which the popes were imposing upon the 
Christian church. The Gothic princes set bounds to the power 
of these arrogant prelates in Italy, permitted none to be raised 
to the pontificate without their approbation, and reserved to 
themselves the right of judging of the legality of every new 
election." 

An instance in proof of this statement occurs in the history 
of Odoacer, the first Arian king above mentioned, as related by 
Bower in his History of the Popes, Vol. I, p. 271. When, 
on the death of Pope Simplicius, a. d. 483, the clergy and peo- 
ple had assembled for the election of a new pope, suddenly 
Basilius, prgefectus prgetorio and lieutenant of King Odoacer, 
appeared in the assembly, expressed his surprise that any such 
work as appointing a successor to the deceased pope should be 
undertaken without him, in the name of the king declared all 
that had been done null and void, and ordered the election to 
be begun anew. Certainly the horn which exercised such a 
restrictive power over the papal pontiff must be taken away 
before the pope could reach the predicted supremacy. 

Meanwhile, Zeno, the emperor of the East, and friend of 
the pope, was anxious to drive Odoacer out of Italy (Machia- 
velli, p. 6), a movement which he soon had the satisfaction of 
seeing accomplished without trouble to himself, in the following 
manner. Theodoric had come to the throne of the Ostrogothic 
kingdom in Moesia and Pannonia. Being on friendly terms 
with Zeno, he wrote him, stating that it was impossible for 
him to restrain his Goths within the impoverished province 
of Pannonia, and asking his permission to lead them to some 
more favorable region, which they might conquer and possess. 
Zeno gave him permission to march against Odoacer, and take 



172 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



possession of Italy. Accordingly, after a three years' war, 
the Hernlian kingdom in Italy was overthrown, Odoacer was 
treacherously slain, and Theodoric established his Ostrogoths 
in the Italian peninsula. As already stated, he was an Arian, 
and the law of Odoacer subjecting the election of the pope to 
the approval of the king, was still retained. 

The following incident will show how completely the pa- 
pacy was in subjection to his power. The Catholics in the- 
East, having commenced a persecution against the Arians in 
523, Theodoric summoned Pope John into his presence, and 
thus addressed him : " If the emperor [Justin, the predecessor 
of Justinian] does not think fit to revoke the edict which he 
has lately issued against those of my persuasion [that is, the 
Arians], it is my firm resolution to issue the like edict against 
those of his [that is, the Catholics] ; and to see it everywhere 
executed with the same rigor. Those who do not profess the 
faith of Nica?a are heretics to him, and those who do are here- 
tics to me. Whatever can excuse or justify his severity to the 
former, will excuse and justify mine to the latter. But the 
emperor," continued the king, " has none about him who dare 
freely and openly speak what they think, or to whom he would 
hearken if they did. But the great veneration which he pro- 
fesses for your See, leaves no room to doubt but he would 
hearken to you. I will therefore have you to repair forthwith 
to Constantinople, and there to remonstrate, both in my name 
and your own, against the violent measures in which that court 
has so rashly engaged. It is in your power to divert the 
emperor from them ; and till you have, nay, till the Cath- 
olics [this name Theodoric applies to the Arians] are restored 
to the free exercise of their religion, and to all the churches 
from which they have been driven, you must not think of return- 
ing to Italy." — Bowers History of the Popes, Vol. I, p. 325. 

The pope who was thus peremptorily ordered not to set his 
foot again upon Italian soil until he had carried out the will 
of the king, certainly could not hope for much advancement 
toward any kind of supremacy till that power was taken out 
of the way. Baronius, according to Bower, will have it that 
the pope sacrificed himself on this occasion, and advised the 



CHAPTER 7,. VERSES 28 - 26 



173 



emperor not by any means to comply with the demand the 
king had sent him. But Mr. Bower thinks this inconsistent, 
since he could not, he says, " sacrifice himself without sacri- 
ficing, at the same time, the far greater part of the innocent 
Catholics in the West, who were either subject to King Theod- 
oric, or to other Arian princes in alliance with him/' It is 
certain that the pope and the other ambassadors were treated 
with severity on their return, which Bower explains on this 
wise : " Others arraign them all of high treason ; and truly 
the chief men of Rome were suspected at this very time of 
carrying on a treasonable correspondence with the court of 
Constantinople, and machinating the ruin of the Gothic em- 
pire in Italy" — Id., p. 326. 

The feelings of the papal party toward Theodoric may be 
accurately estimated, according to a quotation already given, 
by the vengeance which they took on his memory, when they 
tore from his massive tomb in Ravenna the porphyry vase in 
which his Arian subjects had enshrined his ashes. But these 
feelings are put into language by Baronius, who inveighs 
" against Theodoric as a cruel barbarian, as a barbarous ty- 
rant, as an impious Arian." But " having exaggerated with 
all his eloquence, and bewailed the deplorable condition of the 
Roman Church reduced by that heretic to a state of slavery, 
he comforts himself in the end, and dries up his tears, with 
the pious thought that the author of such a calamity died 
soon after, and was eternally damned! " — Baronius s Annals. 
A. D. 526, p. 116; Bower, Vol. Ill, p. 828. 

While the Catholics were thus feeling the restraining power 
of an Arian king in Italy, they were suffering a violent perse- 
cution from the Arian Yandals in Africa. (Gibbon, chap. 37, 
sec. 2.) Elliott, in his Horse Apocalyptica?, Vol. Ill, p. 152. 
note 3, says: " The Vandal kings were not only Arians, but 
persecutors of the Catholics ; in Sardinia and Corsica, under 
the Roman Episcopate, we may presume, as well as in Africa." 

Such was the position of affairs, when, in 533, Justinian 
entered upon his Vandal and Gothic wars. Wishing to se- 
cure the influence of the pope and the Catholic party, he issued 
that memorable decree which was to constitute the pope the 



174 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



head of all the churches, and from the carrying out of which, 
in 538, the period of papal supremacy is to be dated. And 
whoever will read the history of the African campaign, 533 - 
534, and the Italian campaign, 534- 538, will notice that the 
Catholics everywhere hailed as deliverers the army of Beli- 
sarius, the general of Justinian. 

The testimony of D'Aubigne (Reformation, book 1, chap. 
1), also throws light upon the undercurrents which gave shape 
to outward movements in these eventful times. He says: 
" Princes whom these stormy times often shook upon their 
thrones, offered their protection if Rome would in its turn 
support them. They conceded to her the spiritual authority, 
provided she would make a return in secular power. They 
were lavish of the souls of men, in the hope that she would 
aid them against their enemies. The power of the hierarchy, 
which was ascending, and the imperial power, which was de- 
clining, leaned thus one upon the other, and by this alliance 
accelerated their twofold destiny. Rome could not lose by it. 
An edict of Theodosius II and of Valerian III proclaimed 
the Roman bishop ' rector of the whole church.' Justinian 
published a similar decree." 

But no decree of this nature could be carried into effect 
until the Arian horns which stood in its way were plucked 
up. The Vandals fell before the victorious arms of Belisarius 
in 534 ; and the Goths, retiring, left him in undisputed posses- 
sion of Rome in 538. (Gibbon's Rome, chap. 41.) 

Procopius relates that the African war was undertaken by 
Justinian for the relief of the Christians (Catholics) in that 
quarter ; and that when he expressed his intention in this re- 
spect, the prefect of the palace came very near dissuading him 
from his purpose; but a dream appeared to him in which he 
was bidden "not to shrink from the execution of his design; 
for by assisting the Christians he would overthrow the power 
of the Vandals." — Evagrius's Ecclesiastical History, Booh k, 
chap. 16. 

Listen again to Mosheim : " It is true that the Greeks who 
had received the decrees of the Council of Nicsea [that is, the 
Catholics], persecuted and oppressed the Arians wherever their 



CHAPTER 1, VERSES 23 - 26 



177 



influence and authority could reach ; but the Nicenians, in 
their turn, were not less rigorously treated by their adversa- 
ries [the Arians], particularly in Africa and Italy, where they 
felt, in a very severe manner, the weight of the Arian power, 
and the bitterness of hostile resentment. The triumphs of 
Arianism were, however, transitory, and its prosperous days 
were entirely eclipsed when the Vandals were driven out of 
Africa, and the Goths out of Italy, by the arms of Justinian." 
— Mosheims Church History, cent. 6, 'part 2, chap, 5, sec. 3. 

Elliott, in his Horse Apocalypticse, makes two enumerations 
of the ten kingdoms which rose out of the Roman empire, vary- 
ing the second list from the first according to the changes 
which had taken place at the later period to which the second 
list applies. His first list differs from that mentioned in re- 
marks on chap. 2 : 42, only in that he put the Alemanni in place 
of the Huns, and the Bavarians in place of the Lombards, a 
variation which can be easily accounted for. But out of this 
list he names the three that were plucked up before the papacy, 
in these words : " I might cite three that were eradicated from 
before the pope out of the list first given ; namely, the Heruli 
under Ocloacer, the Vandals, and the Ostrogoths/' — Vol. Ill, 
p. 152, note 1. 

Although he prefers the second list, in whicli he puts the 
Lombards instead of the Heruli, the foregoing is good testi- 
mony that if we make the enumeration of the ten kingdoms 
while the Heruli were a ruling power, they were one of the 
horns which were plucked up. 

From the historical testimony above cited, we think it 
clearly established that the three horns plucked up were the 
powers named; viz., the Heruli in a. d. 493, the Vandals in 
534, and the Ostrogoths in 538. 

1. " He shall speak great words against the Most High." 
Has the papacy done this ? Look at a few of the pope's self- 
assumed titles : " Vicegerent of the Son of God," " Our Lord 
God, the Pope," " Another God upon earth," " King of the 
world," " King of kings and Lord of lords." Said Pope Nich- 
olas to Emperor Michael, " The pope, who is called God by 
Constantine, can never be bound or released by man; for God 



178 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



can not bo judged by man." Is there need of bolder blas- 
phemy than this ? Listen also to the adulation the popes have 
received from their followers without rebuke. A Venetian 
prelate, in the fourth session of the Lateran, addressed the 
pope as follows : " Thou art our Shepherd, our Physician, 
in short, a second God upon earth." Another bishop called 
him " the lion of the tribe of Judah, the promised Saviour." 
Lord Anthony Pucci, in the fifth Lateran, said to the pope, 
" The sight of thy divine majesty does not a little terrify 
me ; for I am not ignorant that all power both in heaven and 
in earth is given unto you; that the prophetic saying is ful- 
filled in you, i All the kings of the earth shall worship him, 
and nations shall serve him.' " (See Oswald's Kingdom 
Which Shall Not Be Destroyed, pp. 97 - 99.) Again, Dr. 
Clarke, on verse 25, says: <u He shall speak as if he were 
God.' So St. Jerome quotes from Symmachus. To none 
can this apply so well or so fully as to the popes of Rome. 
They have assumed infallibility, which belongs only to God. 
They profess to forgive sins, which belongs only to God. They 
profess to open and shut heaven, which belongs only to God. 
They profess to be higher than all the kings of the earth, which 
belongs only to God. And they go beyond God in pretending 
to loose whole nations from their oath of allegiance to their 
kings, when such kings do not please them. And they go 
against God when they give indulgences for sin. This is the 
worst of all blasphemies." 

2. "And shall wear out the saints of the Most High." 
Has the papacy done this ? For the mere information of any 
student of church history, no answer need here be given. All 
know that for long years the papal church has pursued its re- 
lentless work against the true followers of God. Chapter 
after chapter might be given, would our limited space permit. 
Wars, crusades, massacres, inquisitions, and persecutions of 
all kinds, — these were their weapons of extinction. 

'Scott's Church History says : " ~No computation can reach 
the numbers who have been put to death, in different ways, 
on account of their maintaining the profession of the gospel, 
and opposing the corruptions of the Church of Rome. A mil- 



PROMINENT MARTYRS 

"And he shall wear out the saints of the Most High." 
For biographical sketches, see Appendix. 



CHAPTER 1, VERSES 28 - 26 



181 



lion of poor Waldenses perished in France ; nine hundred thou- 
sand orthodox Christians were slain in less than thirty years 
after the institution of the order of the Jesnits. The Duke 
of Alva boasted of having pnt to death in the Netherlands 
thirty-six thousand by the hand of the common executioner 
during the space of a few years. The Inquisition destroyed, 
by various tortures, one hundred and fifty thousand within 
thirty years. These are a few specimens, and but a few, of 
those which history has recorded. But the total amount will 
never be known till the earth shall disclose her blood, and 
no more cover her slain." 

Commenting on the prophecy that the little horn should 
" wear out the saints of the Most High," Barnes, in his Xotes 
on Dan. 7 : 25, says: " Can any one doubt that this is true of 
the papacy ? The Inquisition, the persecutions of the Wal- 
denses, the ravages of the Duke of Alva, the fires of Smith- 
field, the tortures of Goa, — indeed, the whole history of the 
papacy, may be appealed to in proof that this is applicable to 
that power. If anything could have worn out the saints of 
the Most High, — could have cut them off from the earth so 
that evangelical religion would have become extinct, — it would 
have been the persecutions of the papal power. In the year 
1208 a crusade was proclaimed by Pope Innocent III against 
the Waldenses and Albigenses, in which a million men per- 
ished. From the beginning of the order of Jesuits in the 
year 1540 to 1580, nine hundred thousand were destroyed. 
One hundred and fifty thousand perished by the Inquisition in 
thirty years. In the Low Countries fifty thousand persons were 
hanged, beheaded, burned, or buried alive, for the crime of 
heresy, within the space of thirty-eight years from the edict of 
Charles V against the Protestants to the peace of Chateau 
Cambresis in 1559. Eighteen thousand suffered by the hand 
of the executioner in the space of five years and a half, during 
the administration of the Duke of Alva. Indeed, the slight- 
est acquaintance with the history of the papacy will convince 
any one that what is here said of ' making Avar with the saints ' 
(verse 21), and e wearing out the saints of the Most High' 
(verse 25), is strictly applicable to that power, and will accu- 
12 



182 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



rately describe its history." (See Buck's Theological Diction- 
ary, art., Persecutions; Oswald's Kingdom, etc., pp. 107 - 133; 
Dowling's History of Romanism; Fox's Book of Martyrs; 
Charlotte Elizabeth's Martyrology; The Wars of the Hugue- 
nots; The Great Red Dragon, by Anthony Gavin, formerly 
one of the Roman Catholic priests of Saragossa, Spain; His- 
tories of the Reformation, etc.) 

To parry the force of this damaging testimony from all his- 
tory, papists deny that the church has ever persecuted any one ; 
it has been the secular power; the church has only passed 
decision upon the question of heresy, and then turned the 
offenders over to the civil power, to be dealt with according to 
the pleasure of the secular court. The impious hypocrisy of 
this claim is transparent enough to make it an absolute insult 
to common sense. In those days of persecution, what was 
the secular power ? — Simply a tool in the hand of the church, 
and under its control, to do its bloody bidding. And when 
the church delivered its prisoners to the executioners to be de- 
stroyed, with fiendish mockery it made use of the following 
formula: " And we do leave thee to the secular arm, and to 
the power of the secular court; but at the same time do most 
earnestly beseech that court so to moderate its sentence as not 
to touch thy blood, nor to put thy life in any sort of danger." 
And then, as intended, the unfortunate victims of popish hate 
were immediately executed. (Geddes's Tracts on Popery; 
View of the Court of Inquisition in Portugal, p. 446 ; Lim- 
borch, Vol. II, p. 289.) 

But the false claims of papists in this respect have been 
flatly denied and disproved by one of their own standard writ- 
ers, Cardinal Bellarmine, who was born in Tuscany in 1542, 
and who, after his death in 1621, came very near being placed 
in the calendar of saints on account of his great services in 
behalf of popery. This man, on one occasion, under the spur 
of controversy, betrayed himself into an admission of the real 
facts in the case. Luther having said that the church (mean- 
ing the true church) never burned heretics, Bellarmine, un- 
derstanding it of the Romish Church, made answer: " This 
argument proves not the sentiment, but the ignorance or im- 



CHAPTER 1, VERSES 23 - 26 



183 



pudence of Luther; for as almost an infinite number were 
either burned or otherwise put to death, Luther either did not 
know it, and was therefore ignorant ; or if he knew it, he was 
convicted of impudence and falsehood; for that heretics were 
often burned by the church, may be proved by adducing a few 
from many examples." 

To show the relation of the secular power to the church, as 
held by Romanists, we quote the answer of the same writer to 
the argument that the only weapon committed to the church 
is " the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." To 
this he replied: "As the church has ecclesiastical and secular 
princes, who are her two arms, so she has two swords, the 
spiritual and material; and therefore when her right hand is 
unable to convert a heretic with the sword of the Spirit, she 
invokes the aid of the left hand, and coerces heretics with the 
material sword." In answer to the argument that the apostles 
never invoked the secular arm against heretics, he says, " The 
apostles did it not, because there was no Christian prince whom 
thy could call on for aid. But afterward, in Constantine's 
time, . . . the church called in the aid of the secular arm." 
— Dowlincfs History of Romanism, pp. ol±l , 5J}8. 

In corroboration of these facts, fifty million martyrs — 
this is the lowest computation made by any historian — will 
rise up in the judgment as witnesses against her bloody 
work. 

Pagan Rome persecuted relentlessly the Christian church, 
and it is estimated that three million Christians perished in 
the first three centuries, yet it is said that the- primitive Chris- 
tians prayed for the continuance of imperial Rome; for they 
knew that when this form of government should cease, another 
far worse persecuting power would arise, which would literally, 
as this prophecy declares, " wear out the saints of the Most 
High." Pagan Rome could slay the infants, but spare the 
mothers; but papal Rome slew both mothers and infants to- 
gether. ~Ko age, no sex, no condition in life, was exempt from 
her relentless rage. " When Herod died," says a forcible 
writer, " he went down to the grave with infamy ; and earth 
had one murderer, one persecutor, less, and hell one victim 



184 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



more. O Rome! what will not be thy hell, and that of thy 
votaries, when thy judgment shall have come ! " 

3. And shall " think to change times and laws." What 
laws and whose ? E~ot the laws of other earthly governments ; 
for it was nothing marvelous or strange for one power to change 
the laws of another, whenever it could bring such power under 
its dominion. Not human laws of any kind; for the little horn 
had power to change these so far as its jurisdiction extended; 
but the times and laws in question were such as this power 
should only think to change, but not be able to change. They 
are the laws of the same Being to whom the saints belong who 
are worn out by this power ; namely, the laws of the Most High. 
And has the papacy attempted this ? — Yes, even this. It 
has, in its catechisms, expunged the second commandment of 
the decalogue to make way for its adoration of images. It 
has divided the tenth commandment to make up the number 
ten. And, more audacious than all! it has taken hold of the 
fourth commandment, torn from its place the Sabbath of Je- 
hovah, the only memorial of the great God ever given to man, 
and erected in its place a rival institution to serve another 
purpose. 1 

4. "And they shall be given into his hand until a time and. 
times and the dividing of time." The pronoun they embraces 
the saints, the times, and the laws just mentioned. How long 
a time were they to be given into the hands of this power ? A 
time, as we have seen from chapter 4:23, is one year; two 
times, the least that could be denoted by the plural, two years, 
and the dividing of time, or half a time (Sept., yfuo-v,) half a 
year. Gesenius also gives " J Vp, Chald., a half. Dan. 7 : 25." 
We thus have three years and a half for the continuance of this 
power. The Hebrew, or rather the Chaldaic, word for time 
in the text before us, is pj^, iddan, which Gesenius defines 
thus : " Time. Spec, in prophetic language for a year. Dan. 

7:25, fiy ;h&\ nu^U? f or a v ear > a ^ so tw0 y ears 

and half a year; i. e., for three years and a half; comp. Jos. 
B. J. 1. 1. 1." We must now consider that we are in the 

1 See Catholic catechisms, and the work entitled, "Who Changed the Sabbath?" 
and works on the Sabbath and Law published by the Southern Publishing Asso- 
ciation, Nashville, Tenn. 



CHAPTER 1, VERSES 23 - 26 



185 



midst of symbolic prophecy; hence in this measurement the 
time is not literal, but symbolic also. The inquiry then arises, 
How long a period is denoted by the three years and a half of 
prophetic time % The rule given us in the Bible is, that when 
a day is used as a symbol, it stands for a year. Eze. 4:6; 
Num. 14:34. Under the Hebrew word for day, DV (yom), 
Gesenius has this remark: " 3. Sometimes D*£D* [Yamim\ 
marks a definite space of time; viz., a year; as also Syr. and 
Chald. pj/ [iddan\ denotes both time and year; and as in 
English several words signifying time, weight, measure, are 
likewise used to denote certain specified times, weights, and 
measures.'' The ordinary Jewish year, which must be used 
as the basis of reckoning, contained three hundred and sixty 
days. Three years and a half contained twelve hun.dred and 
sixty days. As each day stands for a year, we have twelve 
hundred and sixty years for the continuation of the supremacy 
of this horn. Did the papacy possess dominion that length of 
time ? The answer again is, Yes. The edict of the emperor 
Justinian, dated a. d. 533, made the bishop of Rome the head 
of all the churches. But this edict could not go into effect 
until the Arian Ostrogoths, the last of the three horns that 
were plucked up to make room for the papacy, were driven 
from Rome ; and this was not accomplished, as already shown, 
till a. d. 538. The edict would have been of no effect had 
this latter event not been accomplished; hence from this latter 
year we are to reckon, as this was the earliest point where the 
saints were in reality in the hand of this- power. From this 
point did the papacy hold supremacy for twelve hundred and 
sixty years ? — Exactly. For 538 + 1260 = 1798; and in 
the year 1798, Berthier, with a French army, entered Rome, 
proclaimed a republic, took the pope prisoner, and for a time 
abolished the papacy. It has never since enjoyed the privi- 
leges and immunities which it possessed before. Thus again 
this power fulfils to the very letter the specifications of the 
prophecy, which proves beyond question that the application is 
correct. 

After describing the terrible career of the little horn, and 
stating that the saints should be given into his hand for 1260 



186 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



years, bringing us down to 1798, verse 26 declares: " But the 
judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to 
consume and to destroy it unto the end." In verse 10 of the 
same chapter we have substantially the same expression relative 
to the judgment : " The judgment Avas set." It would seem 
consistent to suppose that the same judgment is referred to in 
both instances. But the sublime scene described in verse 10 
is the opening of the investigative Judgment in the sanctuary 
in heaven, as will appear in remarks on Dan. 8 : 14 and 9:25- 
27. The opening of this judgment scene is located by the 
prophecy at the close of the great prophetic period of 2300 
years, which terminated in 1844. (See under chapter 9: 
25 - 27.) Four years after this, in 1848, the great revolution 
which shook so many thrones in Europe, drove the pope also 
from his dominions. His restoration shortly after was through 
the force of foreign bayonets, by which alone he was upheld till 
his final loss of temporal power in 1870. The overthrow of the 
papacy in 1798 marked the conclusion of the prophetic period 
of 1260 years, and constituted the " deadly wound " prophesied 
in Rev. 13 : 3, to come upon this power; but this deadly wound 
was to be " healed." In 1800 another pope was elected; his 
palace and temporal dominion were restored, and every pre- 
rogative except, as Mr. Croly says, that of a systematic perse- 
cutor, was again under his control ; and thus the wound was 
healed. But since 1870, he has enjoyed no prestige as a 
temporal prince, among the nations of the earth. 

Verse 27. And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of 
the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of 
the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting king- 
dom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. 28. Hitherto is 
the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my cogitations much 
troubled me, and my countenance changed in me : but I kept the 
matter in my heart. 

After beholding the dark and desolate picture of papal 
oppression upon the church, the prophet is permitted once 
more to turn his eyes upon the glorious period of the saints' 
rest, when they shall have the kingdom, free from all oppres- 
sive powers, in everlasting possession. How could the children 
of God keep heart in this present evil world, amid the misrule 



CHAPTER 1, VERSES 21, 28 



187 



and oppression of the governments of earth, and the abomina- 
tions that are done in the land, if they could not look forward 
to the kingdom of God and the return of their Lord, with full 
assurance that the promises concerning them both shall cer- 
tainly be fulfilled, and that speedily ? 

Note. — Some startling events relative to the papacy, filling up 
the prophecies uttered in this chapter concerning that power, have 
taken place within a few years of the present time. Commencing in 
1798, where the first great blow fell upon the papacy, what have been 
the chief characteristics of its history? Answer: The rapid defec- 
tion of its natural supporters, and greater assumptions on its own 
part. In 1844, the judgment of verse 10 began to sit; namely, the 
investigative judgment, in the heavenly sanctuary, preparatory to the 
coming of Christ. Dec. 8, 1854, the dogma of the Immaculate Con- 
ception was decreed by the pope. July 21, 1870, in the great Ecumen- 
ical Council assembled at Rome, it was deliberately decreed, by a vote 
of 538 against 2, that the pope was infallible. In the same year, 
France, by whose bayonets the pope was kept upon his throne, was 
crushed by Prussia, and the last prop was taken from under the pa- 
pacy. Then Victor Emmanuel, seeing his opportunity to carry out 
the long-cherished dream of a united Italy, seized Rome to make it 
the capital of his kingdom. To his troops, under General Cadorna, 
Rome surrendered, Sept. 20, 1870. The pope's temporal power was 
thus wholly taken away, nevermore, said Victor Emmanuel, to be re- 
stored; and since that time, the popes, shutting themselves up in the 
Vatican, have styled themselves " prisoners." Because of the great 
words which the horn uttered, Daniel saw the beast destroyed, and 
given to the burning flame. This destruction is to take place at the 
second coining of Christ and by means of that event ; for the man of 
sin is to be consumed by the spirit of Christ's mouth, and destroyed 
by the brightness of his coming. 2 Thess. 2 : 8. What words could 
be more arrogant, presumptuous, blasphemous, or insulting to high 
Heaven, than the deliberate adoption of the dogma of infallibility, 
thus clothing a mortal man with a prerogative of the Deity? And 
this was accomplished by papal intrigue and influence, July 21, 1870. 
Following in swift succession, the last vestige of temporal power was 
wrenched from his grasp. It was because of these words, and as if 
in almost immediate connection with them, that the prophet saw this 
power given to the burning flame. His dominion was to be consumed 
unto the end, implying that when his power as a civil ruler should be 
wholly destroyed, the end would not be far off. And the prophet 
immediately adds: "And the kingdom and dominion, and the great- 
ness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the 
people of the saints of the Most High." All in this line of prophecy 
has now been fully accomplished except the closing scene. Xext 
comes the last, crowning act in the drama, when the beast will be 
given to the burning flame, and the saints of the Most High will take 
the kingdom. We must be, now, upon the very threshold of this 
glorious event. 




CHAPTEE VIII. 



WE now come once more," says Dr. Clarke, "to the 
Hebrew, the Clialdee part of the book being finished. 
As the Chaldeans had a particular interest both in 
the history and the prophecies from chapter 2 : 4 to the end 
of chapter 7, the whole is written in Chaldee; but as the proph- 
ecies which remain concern times posterior to the Chaldean 
monarchy, and principally relate to the church and people of 
God generally, they are written in the Hebrew language, this 
being the tongue in which God chose to reveal all his counsels 
given under the Old Testament relative to the New." 

Verse 1. In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision 
appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel, after that which appeared 
unto me at the first. 

One prominent characteristic of the sacred writings, and 
one which should forever shield them from the charge of being 
works of fiction, is the frankness and freedom with which the 
writers state all the circumstances connected with that which 
they record. This verse states the time when the vision re- 
corded in this chapter was given to Daniel. The first year 
of Belshazzar was b. c. 540. His third year, in which this 
vision was given, would . consequently be 538. If Daniel, as 
is supposed, was about twenty years of age when he was car- 
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CHAPTER 8, VERSES 1 - 4 



191 



ried to Babylon in the first year of Nebuchadnezzar, b. c. 
606, he was at this time about eighty-eight years of age. The 
vision he speaks of as the one " which appeared unto him at the 
first/ 7 is doubtless the vision of the seventh chapter, which 
he had in the first year of Belshazzar. 

Verse 2. And I saw in a vision ; and it came to pass, when I saw, 
that I was at Shushan in the palace which is in the province of 
Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai. 

As verse 1 states the time when, this verse gives the place 
where, the vision was given. Shushan, as we learn from 
Prideaux, was the metropolis of the province of Elam. This 
was then in the hands of the Babylonians, and there the king 
of Babylon had a royal palace. Daniel, as minister of state, 
and employed about the king's business, was accordingly in 
that place. Abradates, viceroy or prince of Shushan, revolted 
to Cyrus, and the province was joined to the Medes and Per- 
sians; so that, according to the prophecy of Isaiah (21:2), 
Elam went up with the Medes to besiege Babylon. Under 
the Medes and Persians it regained its liberties, of which it 
had been deprived by the Babylonians, according to the proph- 
ecy of Jeremiah, chapter 49:39. 

Verse 3. Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there 
stood before the river a ram which had two horns ; and the two horns 
were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came 
up last. 4. I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and 
southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was 
there any that could deliver out of his hand ; but he did according 
to his will, and became great. 

In verse 20 an interpretation of this symbol is given us in 
plain language: "The ram which thou sawest having two 
horns are the kings of Media and Persia.'' We have only, 
therefore, to consider how well the symbol answers to the 
power in question. The two horns represented the two na- 
tionalities of which the empire consisted. The higher came 
up last. This represented the Persian element, which, from 
being at first simply an ally of the Medes, came to be the 
leading division of the empire. The different directions in 
which the ram was seen pushing, denote the directions in which 



192 PROPHECY OF DANIEL 

the Medes and Persians carried their conquests. ~No earthly 
powers could stand before them while they were marching up 
to the exalted position to which the providence of God had 
summoned them. And so successfully were their conquests 
prosecuted that in the days of Ahasuerus (Esther 1:1), the 
Medo-Persian kingdom extended from India to Ethiopia, the 
extremities of the then known world, over a hundred and 
twenty-seven provinces. The prophecy almost seems to fall 
short of the facts as stated in history, when it simply says that 
this power " did according to his will, and became great." 

Verse 5. And as I was considering, behold, an he-goat came from 
the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground : 
and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes. 6. And he came 
to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the 
river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power. 7. And I saw him 
come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, 
and smote the ram, and brake his two horns; and there was no power 
in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, 
and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the 
ram out of his hand. 

"As I was considering," says the prophet; and in this he 
sets an example for every lover of the truth, and all who have 
any regard for things higher than the objects of time and sense. 
When Moses saw the burning bush, he said, " I will now turn 
aside, and see this great sight." But how few are willing at 
the present time to turn aside from their pursuit of business 
or pleasure to consider the important themes to which both 
the mercy and the providence of God are striving to call their 
attention. 

The symbol here introduced is also explained by the angel 
to Daniel. Verse 21 : "And the rough goat is the king [or 
kingdom] of Grecia." Concerning the fitness of this symbol 
to the Grecian or Macedonian people, Bishop Newton observes 
that the Macedonians, " about two hundred years before the 
time of Daniel, were called JEgeadse, the goats' people ; " the 
origin of which name he explains, according to heathen authors, 
as follows : " Car anus, their first king, going with a great mul- 
titude of Greeks to seek new habitations in Macedonia, was 
advised by an oracle to take the goats for his guides to empire ; 



CHAPTER 8, VERSES 5 - 7 



195 



and afterward, seeing a herd of goats flying from a violent 
storm, he followed them to Edessa, and there fixed the seat of 
his empire, and made the goats his ensigns, or standards, and 
called the city iEgaB, or the goats' town, and the people iEgea- 
-dse, or the goats' people." " The city of ^Egese, or iEgse, was 
the usual burying-place of the Macedonian kings. It is also 
very remarkable that Alexander's son by Roxana was named 
Alexander JEgus, or the son of the goat; and some of Alex- 
ander's successors are represented in their coins with goats' 
horns." — ■ Dissertation on the Prophecies, p. 238. 

The goat came from the west. Grecia lay west of Persia. 

" On the face of the whole earth." He covered all the 
ground as he passed; that is, swept everything before him; 
he left nothing behind. 

He " touched not the ground." Such was the marvelous 
celerity of his movements that he did not seem to touch the 
ground, but to fly from point to point with the swiftness of 
the wind ; the same feature is brought to view by the four 
wings of the leopard in the vision of chapter 7. 

The notable horn between his eyes. This is explained in 
verse 21 to be the first king of the Macedonian empire. This 
king was Alexander the' Great. 

Verses 6 and 7 give a concise account of the overthrow of 
the Persian empire by Alexander. The contests between the 
Greeks and Persians are said to have been exceedingly furious ; 
and some of the scenes as recorded in history are vividly 
brought to mind by the figure used in the prophecy, — a ram 
standing before the river, and the goat running unto him in 
the fury of his power. Alexander first vanquished the generals 
of Darius at the River Granicus in Phrygia ; he next attacked 
and totally routed Darius at the passes of Issus in Cilicia, and 
afterward on the plains of Arbela in Syria. This last battle 
occurred b. c. 331, and marked the conclusion of the Persian 
empire, for by this event Alexander became complete master 
of the whole country. Bishop Newton quotes verse 6 : "And 
he [the goat] came to the ram which I had seen standing be- 
fore the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power ; " 
and adds : " One can hardly read these words without having 



196 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



some image of Darius's army standing and guarding the River 
Gr aniens, and of Alexander on the other side, with his forces 
plunging in, swimming across the stream, and rushing on the 
enemy with all the fire and fury that can be imagined." — Id., 
p. 239. 

Ptolemy begins the reign of Alexander b. c. 332 ; but it 
was not till the battle of Arbela, the year following, that he 
became, according to Prideaux (Vol. 1, p. 378), ''absolute 
lord of that empire to the utmost extent in which it was ever 
possessed by the Persian kings." On the eve of this engage- 
ment, Darius sent ten of his chief relatives to sue for peace; 
and upon their presenting their conditions to Alexander, he re- 
plied, " Tell your sovereign . . . that the world will not permit 
two suns nor two sovereigns ! " 

The language of verse 7 sets forth the completeness of the 
subjection of ]\Iedo-Persia to Alexander. The two horns were 
broken, and the ram was cast to the ground and stamped upon. 
Persia was subdued, the country ravaged, its armies cut to 
pieces and scattered, its cities plundered, and the royal city of 
PersejDolis, the capital of the Persian empire, and even in its 
ruins one of the wonders of the world to the present day, was 
sacked and burned. Thus the ram had no power to stand 
before the goat, and there was none that could deliver him out 
of his hand. 

Verse 8. Therefore the he-goat waxed very great: and when he 
was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four 
notable ones toward the four winds of heaven. 

The conqueror is greater than the conquered. The ram, 
Medo-Persia, became great ; the goat, Grecia, became very 
great. And when he was strong, the great horn was broken. 
Human foresight and speculation would have said, When he 
becomes weak, his kingdom racked by rebellion, or paralyzed 
by luxury, then the horn will be broken, and the kingdom shat- 
tered. But Daniel saw it broken in the very prime of its 
strength and the height of its power, when every beholder 
would have exclaimed, Surely, the kingdom is established, and 
nothing can overthrow it. Thus it is often with the wicked. 



CHAPTER 8, VERSES 8 - 11 



197 



The horn of their strength is broken when they think they 
stand most firm. 

Alexander fell in the prime of life. (See notes on verse 
39 of chapter 2.) After his death there arose much confusion 
among his followers respecting the succession. It was finally 
agreed, after a seven days' contest, that his natural brother, 
Philip Aridseus, should be declared king. .By him, and Alex- 
ander's infant sons, Alexander zEgus and Hercules, the name 
and show of the Macedonian empire were for a time sustained ; 
but all these persons were soon murdered ; and the family of 
Alexander being then extinct, the chief commanders of the 
army, who had gone into different parts of the empire as gov- 
ernors of the provinces, assumed the title of kings. They 
thereupon fell to leaguing and warring with one another to 
such a degree that within the short space of fifteen years from 
Alexander's death, the number w as reduced to — how many ? 
Five ? — No. Three ? — No. Two ? — No. But four — just 
the number specified in the prophecy ; for four notable horns 
were to come up toward the four winds of heaven in place of 
the great horn that was broken. These were (1) Cassander, 
who had Greece and the neighboring countries; (2) Lysima- 
chus, who had Asia Minor; (3) Seleucus, who had Syria and 
Babylon, and from whom came the line of kings known as the 
" Seleucida?," so famous in history; and (4 s ) Ptolemy, son of 
Lagus, who had Egypt, and from whom sprang the " Lagida?." 
These held dominion toward the four winds of heaven. Cas- 
sander had the western parts ; Lysimachus had the northern 
regions ; Seleucus possessed the eastern countries ; and Ptolemy 
had the southern portion of the empire. These four horns may 
therefore be named Macedonia, Thrace (which then included 
Asia Minor, and those parts lying on the Hellespont and Bos- 
phorus), Syria, and Egypt. 

Verse 9. And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which 
waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and 
toward the pleasant land. 10. And it waxed great, even to the host 
of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the 
ground, and stamped upon them. 11. Tea, he magnified himself even 
to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken 
away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. 12. And an host 
13 



198 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, 
and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practiced and 
prospered. 

A third power is here introduced into the prophecy. In 
the explanation wdiich the angel gave to Daniel of these sym- 
bols, this one is not described in language so definite as that 
concerning Medo-Persia and Grecia. Hence a flood of wild 
conjecture is at once let loose. Had not the angel, in language 
which cannot be misunderstood, stated that ^ledo-Persia and 
Grecia w^ere denoted by the ram and the he-goat, it is impos- 
sible to tell what applications men wxmld have given us of those 
symbols. Probably they w r ould have applied them to anything 
and everything but the right objects. Leave men a moment 
to their own judgment in the interpretation of prophecy, and 
Ave immediately have the most sublime exhibitions of human 
fancy. 

There are two leading applications of the symbol now T under 
consideration, which are all that need be noticed in these brief 
thoughts. The first is that the " little horn " here introduced 
denotes the Syrian king, Antiochus Epiphanes ; the second, that 
it denotes the Roman power. It is an easy matter to test the 
claims of these two positions. 

I. Does it mean Antiochus ? If so, this king must fulfil 
the specifications of the prophecy ? If he does not fulfil them, 
the application cannot be made to him. The little horn came 
out of one of the four horns of the goat. It was then a sepa- 
rate power, existing independently of, and distinct from, any 
of the horns of the goat. Was Antiochus such a power % 

1. Who was Antiochus ? From the time that Seleucus 
made himself king over the Syrian portion of Alexander's 
empire, thus constituting the Syrian horn of the goat, until that 
country was conquered by the Romans, twenty-six kings ruled 
in succession over that territory. The eighth of these, in order, 
was Antiochus Epiphanes. Antiochus, then, w T as simply one 
of the twenty-six kings wdio constituted the Syrian horn of the 
goat. He w T as, for the time being, that horn. Hence he 
could not be at the same time a separate and independent 
power, or another and remarkable horn, as the little horn w r as. 




THE LITTLE HORN OF DANIEL VIII 



CHAPTER 8, VERSES 9 - 12 



201 



2. If it were proper to apply the little horn to any one of 
these twenty-six Syrian kings, it should certainly be applied to 
the most powerful and illustrious of them all; but Antiochus 
Epiphanes did not by any means sustain this character. Al- 
though he took the name Epiphanes, that is, The Illustrious, 
he was illustrious only in name ; for nothing, says Prideaux, 
on the authority of Polybius, Livy, and Diodorus Siculus, could 
be more alien to his true character ; for, on account of his vile 
and extravagant folly, some thinking him a fool and others a 
madman, they changed his name of Epiphanes, " The Illus- 
trious," into Epimanes, " The Madman." 

3. Antiochus the Great, the father of Epiphanes, being 
terribly defeated in a war with the Romans, was enabled to 
procure peace only by the payment of a prodigious sum of 
money, and the surrender of a portion of his territory; and, 
as a pledge that he would faithfully adhere to the terms of 
the treaty, he was obliged to give hostages, among whom was 
this very Epiphanes, his son, who was carried to Rome. The 
Romans ever after maintained this ascendency. 

4. The little horn waxed exceeding great ; but this Antio- 
chus did not wax exceeding great ; on the contrary, he did not 
enlarge his dominion, except by some temporary conquests in 
Egypt, which he immediately relinquished when the Romans 
took the part of Ptolemy, and commanded him to desist from 
his designs in that quarter. The rage of his disappointed 
ambition he vented upon the unoffending Jews. 

5. The little horn, in comparison with the powers that pre- 
ceded it, was exceeding great. Persia is simply called great, 
though it reigned over a hundred and twenty-seven provinces. 
Esther 1 : 1. Grecia, being more extensive still, is called very 
great. Now the little horn, which waxed exceeding great, 
must surpass them both. How absurd, then, to apply this to 
Antiochus, who was obliged to abandon Egypt at the dictation 
of the Romans, to whom he paid enormous sums of money as 
tribute. The Religious Encyclopedia gives us this item of his 
history : " Einding his resources exhausted, he resolved to go 
into Persia to levy tribute, and collect large sums which he had 
agreed to pay the Romans." It cannot take long for any 



202 



PROF HE CY OF DANIEL 



one to decide the question which was the greater power, — the 
one which evacuated Egypt, or the one which commanded that 
evacuation ; the one which exacted tribute, or the one which 
was compelled to pay it. 

6. The little horn was to stand up against the Prince of 
princes. The Prince of princes here means, beyond contro- 
versy, Jesus Christ. Dan. 9:25; Acts 3:15; Rev. 1 : 5. But 
Antiochus died one hundred and sixty-four years before our 
Lord was born. The prophecy cannot, therefore, apply to him ; 
for he does not fulfil the specifications in one single particular. 
The question may then be asked how any one has ever come to 
apply it to him. AVe answer, Romanists take that view to 
avoid the application of the prophecy to themselves; and many 
Protestants follow them, in order to oppose the doctrine that 
the second advent of Christ is now at hand. 

II. It has been an easy matter to show that the little horn 
does not denote Antiochus. It will be just as easy to show 
that it does denote Rome. 

1. The field of vision here is substantially the same as that 
covered by Nebuchadnezzar's image of chapter 2, and Daniel's 
vision of chapter 7. And in both these prophetic delineations 
we have found that the power which succeeded Grecia as the 
fourth great power, was Rome. The only natural inference 
would be that the little horn, the power which in this vision 
succeeds Grecia as an " exceeding great " power, is also Rome. 

2. The little horn comes forth from one of the horns of the 
goat. How, it may be asked, can this be true of Rome ? It 
is unnecessary to remind the reader that earthly governments 
are not introduced into prophecy till they become in some way 
connected with the people of God. Rome became connected 
with the Jews, the people of God at that time, by the famous 
Jewish League, b. c. 161. 1 Maccabees 8; Josephus's .Antiq- 
uities, book 12, chaj). 10, sec. 6; Prideaux, Vol. II, p. 166. 
But seven years before this, that is, in b. c. 168, Rome had 
conquered Macedonia, and made that country a part of its em- 
pire. Rome is therefore introduced into prophecy just as, 
from the conquered Macedonian horn of the goat, it is going 
forth to new conquests in other directions. It therefore ap- 



CHAPTER 8, VERSES 9 - 12 



203 



peared to the prophet, or may be properly spoken of in this 
prophecy, as coming forth from one of the horns of the goat. 

3. The little horn waxed great toward the south. This 
was true of Rome. Egypt was made a province of the Roman 
empire b. c. 30, and continued such for some centuries. 

4. The little horn waxed great toward the east. This also 
was true of Rome. Rome conquered Syria b. c. 65, and made 
it a province. 

5. The little horn waxed great toward the pleasant land. 
So did Rome. Judea is called the pleasant land in many 
scriptures. The Romans made it a province of their empire, 
b. c. 63, and eventually destroyed the city and the temple, and 
scattered the Jews over the face of the whole earth. 

6. The little horn waxed great even to the host of heaven. 
Rome did this also. The host of heaven, when used in a 
symbolic sense in reference to events transpiring upon the 
earth, must denote persons of illustrious character or exalted 
position. The great red dragon (Rev. 12 : 4) is said to have 
cast down a third part of the stars of heaven to the ground. 
The dragon is there interpreted to symbolize pagan Rome, and 
the stars it cast to the ground were Jewish rulers. Evidently 
it is the same power and the same work that is here brought 
to view, which again makes it necessary to apply this growing 
horn to Rome. 

7. The little horn magnified himself even to rhe Prince of 
the host. Rome alone did this. In the interpretation (verse 
25) this is called standing up against the Prince of princes. 
How clear an allusion to the crucifixion of our Lord under the 
jurisdiction of the Romans. 

8. By the little horn the daily sacrifice was taken away. 
This little horn must he understood to symbolize Rome in its 
entire history, including its two phases, pagan and papal. 
These two phases are elsewhere spoken of as the " daily " 
{sacrifice is a supplied word) and the " transgression of deso- 
lation; " the daily (desolation) signifying the pagan form, 
and the transgression of desolation, the papal. (See on verse 
13.) In the actions ascribed to this power, sometimes one 
form is spoken of, sometimes the other. " By him " (the 



204 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



papal form) " the daily " (tlie pagan form) " was taken away." 
Pagan Rome was remodeled into papal Rome. And the place 
of his sanctuary, or worship, the city of Rome, was cast down. 
The seat of government was removed by Constantine in a. d. 
330 to Constantinople. This same transaction is brought to 
view in Rev. 13 : 2, where it is said that the dragon, pagan 
Rome, gave to the beast, papal Rome, his seat, the city of Rome. 

9. A host was given him (the little horn) against the daily. 
The barbarians that subverted the Roman empire in the 
changes, attritions, and transformations of those times, be- 
came converts to the Catholic faith, and the instruments of 
the dethronement of their former religion. Though conquer- 
ing Rome politically, they were themselves vanquished relig- 
iously by the theology of Rome, and became the perpetuators 
of the same empire in another phase. And this was brought 
about by reason of " transgression ; " that is, by the working of 
the mystery of iniquity. The papacy is the most cunningly 
contrived, false ecclesiastical system ever devised; and it may 
be called a system of iniquity because it has committed its 
abominations and practiced its orgies of superstition in the 
garb, and under the pretense, of pure and undefiled religion. 

10. The little horn cast the truth to the ground, and prac- 
ticed and prospered. This describes, in few words, the work 
and career of the papacy. The truth is by it hideously carica- 
tured ; it is loaded with traditions ; it is turned into mummery 
and superstition ; it is cast down and obscured. 

And this antichristian power has " practiced," — practiced 
its deceptions upon the people, practiced its schemes of cunning 
to carry out its own ends and aggrandize its own power. 

And it has " prospered." It has made war with the saints, 
and prevailed against them. It has run its allotted career, and 
is soon to be broken without hand, to be given to the burning 
flame, and to perish in the consuming glories of the second 
appearing of our Lord. 

Rome meets all the specifications of the prophecy. E"o 
other power does meet them. Hence Rome, and no other, is 
the power in question. And while the descriptions given in 
the word of God of the character of this monstrous system are 



CHAPTER 8, VERSES 9 - U 



205 



fully met, the prophecies of its baleful history have been most 
strikingly and accurately fulfilled. 

Verse 13. Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint 
said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the 
vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desola- 
tion, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under 
foot? 14. And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hun- 
dred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed. 

The time. These two verses close the vision proper of 
chapter 8 ; and they introduce the one remaining point which 
of all others would naturally be of the most absorbing interest 
to the prophet and to all the church ; namely, the time the 
desolating powers previously brought to view were to continue. 
How long shall they continue their course of oppression against 
God's people, and of blasphemy against high Heaven ? Daniel, 
if time had been given, might perhaps have asked this question 
himself, but God is ever ready to anticipate our wants, and 
sometimes to answer even before w T e ask. Hence two celestial 
beings appear upon the scene, holding a conversation, in the 
hearing of the prophet, upon this question which it is so im- 
portant that the church should understand. Daniel heard one 
saint speaking. What this saint spoke at this time we are not 
informed; but there must have been something either in the 
matter or the manner of this speaking which made a deep im- 
pression upon the mind of Daniel, inasmuch as he uses it in 
the very next sentence as a designating title, calling the angel 
" that certain saint which spake." He may have spoken some- 
thing of the same nature as that which the seven thunders of 
the Apocalypse uttered (Rev. 10: 3), and which, for some good 
reason, John was restrained from writing. But another saint 
asked this one that spake an important question: How long 
the vision ? and both the question and the answer are placed 
upon record, which is prima-facie evidence that this is a mat- 
ter which it was designed that the church should understand. 
And this view is further confirmed by the fact that the angel 
did not ask this question for his own information, inasmuch 
as the answer w T as addressed to Daniel, as the one whom it 
chiefly concerned, and for whose information it was given. 



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PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



"And lie said unto me/' said Daniel, recording the answer 
to the angel's question, " Unto two thousand and three hun- 
dred days; then shall the sanctuary he cleansed." 

The daily sacrifice. We have proof in verse 13 that sacri- 
fice is the wrong word to be supplied in connection with the 
word daily. If the daily sacrifice of the Jewish service is here 
meant, or, in other words, the taking away of that sacrifice, as 
some suppose, which sacrifice was at a certain point of time 
taken away, there would he no propriety in the question, How 
long the vision concerning it ? This question evidently implies 
that those agents or events to which the vision relates, occupy 
a long series of years. Continuance of time is the central idea. 
And the whole time of the vision is filled by what is here called 
the daily and the transgression of desolation. Hence the daily 
cannot be the daily sacrifice of the Jews, the taking away of 
which, when the time came for it, occupied comparatively but 
an instant of time. It must denote something which occupies 
a series of years. 

The word here rendered daily occurs in the Old Testa- 
ment, according to the Hebrew Concordance, one hundred and 
two times, and is, in the great majority of instances, rendered 
continual or continually. The idea of sacrifice does not attach 
to the word at all. Nor is there any word in the text which sig- 
nifies sacrifice ; that is wholly a supplied word, the translators 
putting in that word which their understanding of the text 
seemed to demand. But they evidently entertained an errone- 
ous view, the sacrifices of the Jews not being referred to at all. 
It appears, therefore, more, in accordance with both the construc- 
tion and the context, to suppose that the word daily refers 
to a desolating power, like the " transgression of desolation," 
with which it is connected. Then we have two desolating 
powers, which for a long period oppress, or desolate the church. 
The Hebrew, DD£? TDftfl justifies this construction; 

the last word, DfiW, desolation, having a common relation to 
the two preceding nouns, the perpetual and the transgression, 
which are connected by the conjunction and. Literally, it may 
be rendered, " How long the vision [concerning] the continu- 
ance and the transgression of desolation ? " the word desolation 



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being related to both continuance and transgression, as though 
it were expressed in full thus : " The continuance of desolation 
and the transgression of desolation." By the " continuance of 
desolation," or the perpetual desolation, we must understand 
that paganism, through all its long history, is meant; and by 
" the transgression of desolation " is meant the papacy. The 
phrase describing this latter power is stronger than that used to 
describe paganism. It is the transgression (or rebellion, as the 
word also means) of desolation; as though under this period of 
the history of the church the desolating power had rebelled 
against all restraint previously imposed upon it. 

From a religious point of view, the world has presented 
only these two phases of opposition against the Lord's work in 
the earth. Hence although three earthly governments are in- 
troduced in the prophecy as oppressors of the church, they 
are here ranged under two heads ; " the daily " and the " trans- 
gression of desolation." — Medo-Persia was pagan; Grecia was 
pagan; Rome in its first phase was pagan; these all were em- 
braced in the " daily." Then comes the papal form, — the 
" transgression of desolation " — a marvel of craft and cun- 
ning, an incarnation of fiendish blood-thirstiness and cruelty. 
i\o wonder the cry has gone up from suffering martyrs, from 
age to age, How long, O Lord, how long? And no wonder 
the Lord, in order that hope might not wholly die out of the 
hearts of his down-trodden, waiting people, has lifted before 
them the vail of futurity, showing them the consecutive events 
of the world's history, till all these persecuting powers shall 
meet an utter and everlasting destruction, and giving them 
glimpses beyond of the unfading glories of their eternal in- 
heritance. 

The Lord's eye is upon his people. The furnace will be 
heated no hotter than is necessary to consume the dross. It is 
through much tribulation we are to enter the kingdom ; and the 
word tribulation is from tribulum, a threshing sledge. Blow 
after blow must be laid upon us, till all the wheat is beaten 
free from the chaff, and we are made fit for the heavenly gar- 
ner. But not a kernel of wheat will be lost. Says the- Lord 
to his people, Ye are the light of the world, the salt of the 



208 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



earth. In his eves there is nothing else on the earth of con- 
sequence or importance. Hence the peculiar question here 
asked, How long the vision respecting the daily and the trans- 
gression of desolation ? Concerning what ? — the glory of 
earthly kingdoms ? the skill of renowned warriors ? the fame 
of mighty conquerors ? the greatness of human empire ? — ~No ; 
but concerning the sanctuary and the host, the people and 
worship of the Most High. How long shall they be trodden 
under foot ? Here is where all Heaven's interest and sympathy 
are enlisted. He who touches the people of God, touches not 
mere mortals, weak and helpless, but Omnipotence; he opens 
an account which must be settled at the bar of Heaven. And 
soon all these accounts will be adjusted, the iron heel of oppres- 
sion will itself be crushed, and a people will be brought out of 
the furnace prepared to shine as the stars forever and ever. To 
be one who is an object of interest to heavenly beings, one whom 
the providence of God is engaged to preserve while here, and 
crown with immortality hereafter — what an exalted position ! 
How much higher than that of any king, president, or potentate 
of earth ? Reader, are you one of the number ? 

Respecting the 2300 clays, introduced for the first time in 
verse 14, there are no data in this chapter from which to de- 
termine their commencement and close, or tell what portion of 
the world's history they cover. It is necessary, therefore, for 
the present, to pass them by. Let the reader be assured, how- 
ever, that we are not left in any uncertainty concerning those 
days. The declaration respecting them is a part of a revela- 
tion which is given for the instruction of the people of God, 
and is consequently to be understood. They are spoken of 
in the midst of a prophecy which the angel Gabriel was com- 
manded to make Daniel understand; and it may be safely 
assumed that Gabriel somewhere carried out this instruction. 
It will accordingly be found that the mystery which hangs 
over these days in this chapter, is dispelled in the next. 

The sanctuary. Connected with the 2300 days is another 
subject of equal importance, which now presents itself for 
consideration; namely, the sanctuary; and with this is also 
connected the subject of its cleansing. An examination of 



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209 



these subjects will reveal the importance of having an under- 
standing of the commencement and termination of the 2300 
days, that we may know when the great event called " the 
cleansing of the sanctuary " is to transpire ; for all the inhab- 
itants of the earth, as will in due time appear, have a personal 
interest in that solemn work. 

Several objects have been claimed by different ones as the 
sanctuary here mentioned: (1) The earth; (2) The land of 
Canaan; (3) The church; (4) The sanctuary, the " true tab- 
ernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man," which is " in 
the heavens," and of which the Jewish tabernacle was a type, 
pattern, or figure. Heb. 8:1, 2; 9:23, 24. These con- 
flicting claims must be decided by the Scriptures; and for- 
tunately the testimony is neither meager nor ambiguous. 

1. Is the earth the sanctuary? The word sanctuary occurs 
in the Old and New Testaments one hundred and forty-four 
times, and from the definitions of lexicographers, and its use 
in the Bible, we learn that it is used to signify a holy or 
sacred place, a dwelling-place for the Most High. If, there- 
fore, the earth is the sanctuary, it must answer to this defini- 
tion ; but what single characteristic pertaining to this earth is 
found which will satisfy the definition ? It is neither a holy 
nor a sacred place, nor is it a dwelling-place for the Most 
High. It has no mark of distinction, except as being a re- 
volted planet, marred by sin, scarred and withered by the 
curse. Moreover, it is nowhere in all the Scriptures called 
the sanctuary. Only one text can be produced in favor of this 
view, and that only by an uncritical application. Isa. 60 : 13 
says : " The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, 
the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my 
sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious." 
This language undoubtedly refers to the new earth ; but even 
that is not called the sanctuary, but only the " place " of the 
sanctuary, just as it is called " the place " of the Lord's feet ; 
an expression which probably denotes the continual presence 
of God with his people, as it was revealed to John when it 
was said, " Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he 
will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God 



210 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



himself shall be with them, and be their God." Rev. 21:3. 
All that can be said of the earth, therefore, is, that when re- 
newed, it will be the place where the sanctuary of God will be 
located. It can present not a shadow of a claim to being the 
sanctuary at the present time, or the sanctuary of the prophecy. 

2. Is the land of Canaan the sanctuary? So far as we 
may be governed by the definition of the word, it can present 
no better claim than the earth to that distinction. If we in- 
quire where in the Bible it is called the sanctuary, a few texts 
are brought forward which seem to be supposed by some to 
furnish the requisite testimony. The first of these is Ex. 
15:17. Moses, in his song of triumph and praise to God 
after the passage of the Red Sea, exclaimed : " Thou shalt 
bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine in- 
heritance, in the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for 
thee to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands 
have established." A writer who urges this text, says, " T 
ask the reader to pause, and examine and settle the question 
most distinctly, before he goes further. What is the sanctu- 
ary here spoken of ? " But it would be far safer for the 
reader not to attempt to settle the question definitely from this 
one isolated text before comparing it with other scriptures. 
Moses here speaks in anticipation. His language is a predic- 
tion of what God would do for his people. Let us see how it 
was accomplished. If we find, in the fulfilment, that the land 
in which they were planted is called the sanctuary, it will 
greatly strengthen the claim that is based upon this text. If, 
on the other hand, we find a plain distinction drawn between 
the land and the sanctuary, then Ex. 15 : 17 must be inter- 
preted accordingly. 

We turn to David, who records as a matter of history what 
Moses uttered as a matter of prophecy. Ps. 78: 53. 54. The 
subject of the psalmist here, is the deliverance of Israel from 
Egyptian servitude, and their establishment in the promised 
land; and he says: "And he [God] led them on safely, so 
that they feared not: but the sea overwhelmed their enemies. 
And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, even 
to this mountain, which his right hand had purchased." The 



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211 



" mountain " here mentioned by David is the same as the 
" mountain of thine inheritance " spoken of by Moses, in which 
the people were to be planted; and this mountain David calls, 
not the sanctuary, but only the border of the sanctuary. What, 
then, was the sanctuary ? Verse 69 of the same psalm informs 
us: "And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the 
earth which he hath established forever.' 7 The same distinc- 
tion between the sanctuary and the land is pointed out in the 
prayer of good king Jehoshaphat. 2 Chron. 20:7, 8 : "Art 
not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this 
land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of 
Abraham thy friend forever ? And they dwelt therein, and 
have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name." Taken 
alone, some try to draw an inference from Ex. 15 : 17 that 
the mountain was the sanctuary; but when we take in con- 
nection with it the language of David, which is a record of the 
fulfilment of Moses's prediction, and an inspired commentary 
upon his language, such an idea cannot be entertained ; for 
David plainly says that the mountain was simply the " border " 
of the sanctuary ; and that in that border, or land, the sanctuary 
was " built " like high palaces, reference being made to the 
beautiful temple of the Jews, the center and symbol of all their 
worship. But whoever will read carefully Ex. 15 : 17 will 
see that not even an inference is necessary that Moses by the 
word sanctuary means the mountain of inheritance, much less 
the whole land of Palestine. In the freedom of poetic license, 
he employs elliptical expressions, and passes rapidly from one 
idea or object to another. First, the inheritance engages his 
attention, and he speaks of it; then the fact that the Lord was 
to dwell there ; then the place he was to provide for his dwell- 
ing there ; namely, the sanctuary which he would cause to be 
built. David thus associates Mount Zion and Judah together 
in Ps. 78 : 68, because Zion was located in Judah. 

The three texts, Ex. 15: 17; Ps. 78: 51, 69,. are the ones 
chiefly relied on to prove that the land of Canaan is the 
sanctuary; but, singularly enough, the two latter, in plain 
language, clear away the ambiguity of the first, and thereby 
disprove the claim that is based thereon. 



212 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



Having disposed of the main proof on this point, it would 
hardly seem worth while to spend time with those texts from 
which only inferences can be drawn. As there is, however, 
only one even of this class, we will refer to it, that no point 
may be left unnoticed. Isa. 63 : 18 : " The people of thy holi- 
ness have possessed it but a little while : our adversaries have 
trodden down thy sanctuary." This language is as applicable 
to the temple as to the land ! for when the land was overrun 
with the enemies of Israel, their temple was laid in ruins. 
This is plainly stated in verse 11 of the next chapter: " Our 
holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, 
is burned up with fire." The text therefore proves nothing 
for this view. 

Respecting the earth or the land of Canaan as the sanctuary, 
we offer one thought more. If either constitutes the sanctuary, 
it should not only be somewhere described as such, but the 
same idea should be carried through to the end, and the puri- 
fication of the earth or of Palestine should be called the cleans- 
ing of the sanctuary. The earth is indeed defiled, and it is 
to be purified by fire ; but fire, as we shall see, is not the agent 
which is used in the cleansing of the sanctuary; and this puri- 
fication of the earth, or any part of it, is nowhere in the Bible 
called the cleansing of the sanctuary. 

3. Is the church the sanctuary? The evident mistrust with 
which this idea is suggested, is a virtual surrender of the argu- 
ment before it is presented. The one solitary text adduced in 
its support is Ps. 114: 1, 2: " When Israel went out of Egypt, 
the house of Jacob from a people of strange language; Judah 
was his sanctuary, and Israel his dominion." Should we take 
this text in its most literal' sense, what would it prove respect- 
ing the sanctuary ? It would prove that the sanctuary was 
confined to one of the twelve tribes ; and hence that a portion 
of the church only, not the whole of it, constitutes the sanc- 
tuary. But this, proving too little for the theory under consid- 
eration, proves nothing. Why Judah is called the sanctuary 
in the text quoted, need not be a matter of perplexity, when we 
remember that God chose Jerusalem, which was in Jndah, as 
the place of his sanctuary. " But chose," says David, " the 



CHAPTER 8, VERSES IS, H 



213 



tribe of Judah, the Mount Zion which he loved. And he built 
his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath 
established forever." This clearly shows the connection which 
existed between Judah and the sanctuary. That tribe itself 
was not the sanctuary; but it is once spoken of as such when 
Israel came forth from Egypt, because God purposed that in 
the midst of the territory of that tribe his sanctuary should 
be located. But even if it could be shown that the church is 
anywhere called the sanctuary, it would be of no consequence 
to our present purpose, which is to determine what constitutes 
the sanctuary of Dan. 8 : 13, 14; for the church is there spoken 
of as another object: " To give both the sanctuary and the 
host to be trodden under foot." That by the term host the 
church is here meant, none will dispute ; the sanctuary is there- 
fore another and a different object. 

4. Is the temple in heaven the sanctuary? There now re- 
mains but this one claim to be examined; namely, that the 
sanctuary mentioned in the text is what Paul calls in Hebrews 
the " true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man," 
to which he expressly gives the name of " the sanctuary," and 
which he locates in " the heavens ; " of which sanctuary, there 
existed, under the former dispensation, first in the tabernacle 
built by Moses, and afterward in the temple at Jerusalem, a 
pattern, type, or figure. And let it be particularly noticed, 
that on the view here suggested rests our only hope of ever 
understanding this question; for we have seen that all other 
positions are untenable. No other object which has ever been 
supposed by any one to be the sanctuary — the earth, the land 
of Canaan, or the church — can for a moment support such a 
claim. If, therefore, we do not find it in the object before us, 
we may abandon the search in utter despair ; we may discard so 
much of revelation as is still unrevealed, and may cut out from 
the sacred page, as so much useless reading, the numerous pas- 
sages which speak on this subject. All those, therefore, who, 
rather than that so important a subject should go by default, 
are willing to lay aside all preconceived opinions and cherished 
views, will approach ^the position before us with intense anx- 
iety and unbounded interest. They will lay hold of any evi- 
14 



214 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



dence that may here be given us, as a man bewildered in a 
labyrinth of darkness would lay hold of the thread which was 
his only guide to lead him forth again to light. 

It will be safe for us to put ourselves in imagination in the 
place of Daniel, and view the subject from his standpoint. 
What would he understand by the term sanctuary as addressed 
to him ? If we can ascertain this, it will not be difficult to 
arrive at correct conclusions on this subject. His mind would 
inevitably turn, on the mention of that word, to the sanctuary 
of that dispensation ; and certainly he well knew w T here that 
was. His mind did turn to Jerusalem, the city of his fathers, 
which was then in ruins, and to their " beautiful house," which, 
as Isaiah laments, was burned with fire. And so, as was his 
wont, with his face turned toward the place of their once ven- 
erated temple, he prayed God to cause his face to shine upon 
his sanctuary, which was desolate. By the word sanctuary 
Daniel evidently understood their temple at Jerusalem. 

But Paul bears testimony which is most explicit on this 
point. Heb. 9:1: " Then verily the first covenant had also 
ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary." This 
is the very point which at present we are concerned to deter- 
mine : What was the sanctuary of the first covenant ? Paul 
proceeds to tell us. Hear him. Verses 2 - 5 : " For there was 
a tabernacle made; the first [or first apartment], wherein was 
the candlestick, and the table, and the showbread; which is 
called the sanctuary [margin, the holy]. And after the second 
veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; which 
had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid 
round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had 
manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the 
covenant; and over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the 
mercy-seat: of which we cannot now speak particularly." 

There is no mistaking the object to which Paul here has 
reference. It is the tabernacle erected by Moses according to 
the direction of the Lord (which w r as afterward merged into 
the temple at Jerusalem), with a holy and a most holy place, 
and various vessels of service, as here set forth. A full de- 
scription of this building, with its various vessels and their 



CHAPTER 8, VERSES IS, U 



217 



uses, will "be found in Exodus, chapter 25 and onward. If 
the reader is not familiar with this subject, he is requested 
to turn and closely examine the description of this building. 
This, Paul plainly says, was the sanctuary of the first cove- 
nant. And we wish the reader carefully to mark the logical 
value of this declaration. By telling us what did positively 
for a time constitute the sanctuary, Paul sets us on the right 
track of inquiry. He gives us a basis on which to work. For 
a time, the field is cleared of all doubt and all obstacles. Dur- 
ing the time covered by the first covenant, which reached from 
Sinai to Christ, we have before us a distinct and plainly de- 
fined object, minutely described by Moses, and declared by 
Paul to be the sanctuary during that time. 

But Paul's language has greater significance even than this. 
It forever annihilates the claims which are put forth in behalf 
of the earth, the land of Canaan, or the church, as the sanc- 
tuary; for the arguments which would prove them to be the 
sanctuary at any time, would prove them to be such under the 
old dispensation. If Canaan was at any time the sanctuary, 
it was such when Israel was planted in it. If the church, was 
ever the sanctuary, it was such when Israel was led forth from 
Egypt. If the earth was ever the sanctuary, it was such during 
the period of which we speak. To this period the arguments 
urged in their favor apply as fully as to any other period ; and 
if they were not the sanctuary during this time, then all the 
arguments are destroyed which would show that they ever were, 
or ever could be, the sanctuary. But were they the sanctuary 
during that time ? This is a final question for these theories ; 
and Paul decides it in the negative, by describing to us the 
tabernacle of Moses, and telling us that that — not the earth, 
nor Canaan, nor the church — was the sanctuary of that dis- 
pensation. 

And this building answers in every respect to the definition 
of the term, and the use for which the sanctuary was designed. 

1. It was the earthly dwelling-place of God. " Let them 
make me a sanctuary," said he to Moses, " that I may dwell 
among them." Ex. 25 : 8. In this tabernacle, which they 
erected according to his instructions, he manifested his pres- 



218 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



ence. 2. It was a holy, or sacred place, — " the holy sanctu- 
ary." Lev. 16:33. 3. In the word of God it is over and 
over again called the sanctuary. Of the one hundred and forty 
instances in which the word is used in the Old Testament, it 
refers in almost every case to this building. 

The tabernacle was at first constructed in such a manner as 
to be adapted to the condition of the children of Israel at that 
time. They were just entering upon their forty years' wander- 
ing in the wilderness, when this building was set up in their 
midst as the habitation of God and the center of their religious 
worship. Journeying was a necessity, and removals were fre- 
quent. It would be necessary that the tabernacle should often 
be moved from place to place. It was therefore so fashioned 
of movable parts, the sides being composed of upright boards, 
and the covering consisting of curtains of linen and dyed skins, 
that it could be readily taken down, conveniently transported, 
and easily erected at each successive stage of their journey. 
After entering the promised land, this temporary structure in 
time gave place to the magnificent temple of Solomon. In this 
more permanent form it existed, saving only the time it lay in 
ruins in Daniel's day, till its final destruction by the Romans 
in a. d. 70. - 

This is the only sanctuary connected with the earth con- 
cerning which the Bible gives us any instruction or history 
any record. But is there nowhere any other ? This was the 
sanctuary of the first covenant ; with that covenant it came to 
an end; is there no sanctuary which pertains to the second, 
or new covenant ? There must be ; otherwise the analogy is 
lacking between these covenants; and in this case the first 
covenant had a system of worship,, which, though minutely de- 
scribed, is unintelligible, and the second covenant has a system 
of worship which is indefinite and obscure. And Paul virtu- 
ally asserts that the new covenant, in force since the death of 
Christ, the testator, has a sanctuary; for when, in contrasting 
the two covenants, as he does in the book of Hebrews, he says 
in chapter 9 : 1 that the first covenant " had also ordinances of 
divine service, and a worldly sanctuary," it is the same as say- 
ing that the new covenant has likewise its services and its sane- 



CHAPTER 8, VERSES IS, U 



219 



tuary. Furthermore, in verse 8 of this chapter he speaks of 
the worldly sanctuary as the first tabernacle. If that was the 
first, there must be a second ; and as the first tabernacle existed 
so long as the first covenant was in force, when that covenant 
came to an end, the second tabernacle must have taken . the 
place of the first, and must be the sanctuary of the new cov- 
enant. There can be no evading this conclusion. 

Where, then, shall we look for the sanctuary of the new 
covenant ? Paul, by the use of the word also in Heb. 9:1, 
intimates that he had before spoken of this sanctuary. We 
turn back to the beginning of the previous chapter, and find 
him summing up his foregoing arguments as follows : " Xow 
of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have 
such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne 
of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, 
and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not 
man." Can there be any doubt that we have in this text the 
sanctuary of the new covenant ? A plain allusion is here made 
to the sanctuary of the first covenant. That was pitched by 
man, erected by Moses ; this was pitched by the Lord, not by 
man. That was the place where the earthly priests performed 
their ministry; this is the place where Christ, the High Priest 
of the new covenant, performs his ministry. That was on 
earth ; this is in heaven. That was therefore very properly 
called by Paul a " worldly sanctuary ; " this is a " heavenly 
one." 

This view is further sustained by the fact that the sanctuary 
built by Moses was not an original structure, but was built 
after a pattern. The great original existed somewhere else ; 
what Moses constructed was but a type, or model. Listen to 
the directions the Lord gave him on this point : "According to 
all that I show thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and 
the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye 
make it." Ex. 25:9. "And look that thou make them after 
their pattern, which was showed thee in the mount." Verse 
40. (To the same end see Ex. 26:30; 27:8; Acts 7:41.) 

!N"ow of what was the earthly sanctuary a type, or figure ? 
Answer : Of the sanctuary of the new covenant, the " true 



220 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



tabernacle, which the Lord pitched and not man." The rela- 
tion which the first covenant sustains to the second throughout, 
is that of type to antitype. Its sacrifices were types of the 
greater sacrifice of this dispensation ; its priests were types of 
our Lord, in his more perfect priesthood; their ministry was 
performed unto the shadow and example of the ministry of our 
High Priest above; and the sanctuary where they ministered, 
was a type, or figure, of the true sanctuary in heaven, where 
our Lord performs his ministry. 

All these facts are plainly stated by Paul in a few verses 
to the Hebrews. Chapter 8:4, 5: " For if he [Christ] were 
on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are 
priests that offer gifts according to the law: who serve unto 
the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was ad- 
monished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle ; 
for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the 
pattern showed to thee in the mount." This testimony shows 
that the ministry of the earthly priests was a shadow of Christ's 
priesthood ; and the evidence Paul brings forward to prove it, 
is the direction which God gave to Moses to make the taber- 
nacle according to the pattern showed him in the mount. 
This clearly identifies the pattern showed to Moses in the 
mount with the sanctuary, or true tabernacle, in heaven, where 
our Lord ministers, mentioned three verses before. 

In chapter 9 : 8, 9, Paul further says : " The Holy Ghost 
this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all [Greek, 
holy places, plural] was not yet made manifest, while as the 
first tabernacle was yet standing; which was a figure for the 
time then present," etc. While the first tabernacle stood, and 
the first covenant was in force, the ministration of the more 
perfect tabernacle and the work of the new covenant was not, 
of course, carried forward. But when Christ came, a high 
priest of good things to come, when the first tabernacle had 
served its purpose, and the first covenant had ceased, then 
Christ, raised, to the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, as a 
minister of the true sanctuary entered by his own blood (verse 
12) " into the holy place [where also the Greek has the plural, 
the holy places], having obtained eternal redemption for us." 



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Of these heavenly holy places, therefore, the first tabernacle 
was a figure for the time then present. If any further testi- 
mony is needed, he speaks, in verse 23, of the earthly taber- 
nacle, with its apartments and instruments, as patterns of 
things in the heavens ; and in verse 24, he calls the holy 
places made with hands, that is, the earthly tabernacle erected 
by Moses, figures of the true ; that is, the tabernacle in heaven. 

This view is still further corroborated by the testimony of 
John. Among the things which he was permitted to behold in 
heaven, he saw seven lamps of fire burning before the throne 
(Eev. 4:5); he saw an altar of incense, and a golden censer 
(chapter 8:3); he saw the ark of God's testament (chapter 
11 : 19) ; and all this in connection with a " temple " in heaven. 
Rev. 11:19; 15:8. These objects every Bible reader must 
at once recognize as implements of the sanctuary. They owed 
their existence to the sanctuary, and were confined to it, to be 
employed in the ministration connected therewith. As without 
the sanctuary they had not existed, so wherever we find these, 
we may know that there is the sanctuary ; and hence the fact 
that John saw these things in heaven in this dispensation, is 
proof that there is a sanctuary there, and that he was per- 
mitted to behold it. 

However reluctant a person may have been to acknowledge 
that there is a sanctuary in heaven, the testimony that has been 
presented is certainly sufficient to prove this fact. Paul says 
that the tabernacle of Moses was the sanctuary of the first 
covenant. Moses says that God showed him in the mount a 
pattern, according to which he was to make this tabernacle. 
Paul testifies again that Moses did make it according to the 
pattern, and that the pattern was the true tabernacle in heaven, 
which the Lord pitched, and not man ; and that of this heavenly 
sanctuary the tabernacle erected with hands was a true figure, 
or representation. And finally, John, to corroborate the state- 
ment of Paul that this sanctuary is in heaven, bears testimony, 
as an eye-witness, that he beheld it there. What further 
testimony could be required ? Nay, more, what further is 
conceivable ? 

So far as the question as to what constitutes the sanctuary 



222 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



is concerned, we now have the subject before us in one har- 
monious whole. The sanctuary of the Bible — mark it all, 
dispute it who can — consists, first, of the typical tabernacle 
established with the Hebrews at the exode from Egypt, which 
was the sanctuary of the first covenant; and, secondly, of the 
true tabernacle in heaven, of which the former was a type, or 
figure, which is the sanctuary of the new covenant. These are 
inseparably connected together as type and antitype. From 
the antitype we go back to the type, and from the type we are 
carried forward naturally and inevitably to the antitype. 

We have said that Daniel would at once understand by the 
word sanctuary the sanctuary of his people at Jerusalem; so 
would any one under that dispensation. But does the declara- 
tion of Dan. 8 : 14 have reference to that sanctuary ? That 
depends upon the time to which it applies. All the declarations 
respecting the sanctuary which apply under the old dispensa- 
tion, have respect, of course, to the sanctuary of that dispensa- 
tion ; and all those declarations which apply in this dispensation, 
must have reference to the sanctuary in this dispensation. If 
the 2300 days, at the termination of which the sanctuary is to 
be cleansed, ended in the former dispensation, the sanctuary 
to be cleansed was the sanctuary of that time. If they reach 
over into this dispensation, the sanctuary to which reference is 
made is the sanctuary of this dispensation, — the new-covenant 
sanctuary in heaven. This is a point which can be determined 
only by a further argument on the 2300 days; and this will 
be found in remarks on Dan. 9 : 24, where the subject of time 
is resumed and explained. 

What we have thus far said respecting the sanctuary has 
been only incidental to the main question in the prophecy. 
That question has respect to its cleansing. Unto 2300 days, 
then shall the sanctuary be cleansed. But it was necessary 
first to determine what constituted the sanctuary, before we 
could understanclingly examine the question of its cleansing. 
For this we are now prepared. 

Having learned what constitutes the sanctuary, the question 
of its cleansing and how it is accomplished, is soon decided. 
It has been noticed that whatever constitutes the sanctuary of 



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223 



the Bible, must have some service connected with it which is 
called its cleansing. There is no account in the Bible of any 
work so named as pertaining to this earth, the land of Canaan, 
or the church ; which is good evidence that none of these ob- 
jects constitutes the sanctuary ; there is such a service connected 
with the object which we have shown to be the sanctuary, and 
which, in reference to both the earthly building and the heav- 
enly temple, is called its cleansing. 

Does the reader object to the idea of there being anything 
in heaven which is to be cleansed ? Is this a barrier in the 
way of his receiving the view here presented ? Then his con- 
troversy is not with this work, but with Paul, who positively 
affirms this fact. But before he decides against the apostle, 
we ask the objector to examine carefully in reference to the 
nature of this cleansing, as he is here undoubtedly laboring 
under an utter misapprehension. The following are the plain 
terms in which Paul affirms the cleansing of both the earthly 
and the heavenly sanctuary: "And almost all things are by the 
law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no re- 
mission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things 
in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly 
things themselves with better sacrifices than these." Heb. 9 : 
22, 23. In the light of foregoing arguments, this may be para- 
phrased thus : " It was therefore necessary that the tabernacle 
as erected by Moses, with its sacred vessels, which were patterns 
of the true sanctuary in heaven, should be purified, or cleansed, 
with the blood of calves and goats; but the heavenly things 
themselves, the sanctuary of this dispensation, the true taber- 
nacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man, must be cleansed 
with better sacrifices, even with the blood of Christ." 

We now inquire, What is the nature of this cleansing, and 
how is it to be accomplished ? According to the language of 
Paul, just quoted, it is performed by means of blood. The 
cleansing is not, therefore, a cleansing from physical unclean- 
ness or impurity; for blood is not the agent used in such a 
work. And this consideration should satisfy the objector's 
mind in regard to the cleansing of the heavenly things. The 
fact that Paul speaks of heavenly things to be cleansed, does 



224 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



not prove that there is any physical impurity in heaven; for 
that is not the kind of cleansing to which he refers. The 
reason Paul assigns why this cleansing is performed with 
blood, is because without the shedding of blood there is no 
remission. 

Remission, then ; that is, the putting away of sin, is the 
work to be done. The cleansing, therefore, is not physical 
cleansing, but a cleansing from sin. But how came sins con- 
nected with the sanctuary, either the earthly or the heavenly, 
that it should need to be cleansed from them ? This question 
is answered by the ministration connected with the type, to 
which we now turn. 

The closing chapters of Exodus give us an account of the 
construction of the earthly sanctuary; and the arrangement of 
the service connected therewith. Leviticus opens with an ac- 
count of the ministration which was there to be performed. All 
that it is our purpose to notice here, is one particular branch 
of the service, which was performed as follows: The person 
who had committed sin brought his victim to the door of the 
tabernacle. Upon the head of this victim he placed his hand 
for a moment, and, as we may reasonably infer, confessed over 
him his sin. By this expressive act he signified that he had 
sinned, and was worthy of death, but that in his stead he conse- 
crated his victim, and transferred his guilt to it. With his 
own hand (and what must have been his emotions?) he then 
took the life of his victim on account of that guilt. The law 
demanded the life of the transgressor for his disobedience ; the 
life is in the blood (Lev. 17 : 11, 14) ; hence without the shed- 
ding of blood, there is no remission; with the shedding of 
blood, remission is possible ; for the demand of life by the law 
is thus satisfied. The blood of the victim, representative of a 
forfeited life, and the vehicle of its guilt, was then taken by 
the priest and ministered before the Lord. 

The sin of the individual was thus, by his confession, by the 
slaying of the victim, and by the ministry of the priest, trans- 
ferred from himself to the sanctuary. Victim after victim was 
thus offered by the people. Day by day the work went for- 
ward ; and thus the sanctuary continually became the receptacle 



CHAPTER 8, VERSES IS, Ik 



225 



of the sins of the congregation. But this was not the final 
disposition of these sins. The accumulated guilt was removed 
by a special service, which was called the cleansing of the sanc- 
tuary. This service, in the type, occupied one day in the year ; 
and the tenth day of the seventh month, on which it was per- 
formed, was called the day of atonement. On this 'day, while 
all Israel refrained from work and afflicted their souls, the 
priest brought two goats, and presented them before the Lord 
at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. On these 
goats he cast lots; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for 
the scape-goat. The one upon which the Lord's lot fell, was 
then slain, and his blood was carried by the priest into the most 
holy place of the sanctuary, and sprinkled upon the mercy-seat. 
And this was the only day on which he was permitted to enter 
into that apartment. Coming forth, he was then to lay both 
his hands upon the head of the scape-goat, confess over him 
all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their trans- 
gressions in all their sins, and, thus putting them upon his 
head (Lev. 16: 21), he was to send him away by the hand of 
a fit man into a land not inhabited, a land of separation, or 
forgetfulness, the goat never again to appear in the camp of 
Israel, and the sins of the people to be remembered against 
them no more. This service was for the purpose of cleansing 
the people from their sins, and cleansing the sanctuary and its 
sacred vessels. Lev. 16 : 30, 33. By this process, sin was 
removed, — but only in figure ; for all that work was typical. 

The reader to whom these views are new will be ready here 
to inquire, perhaps with some astonishment, what this strange 
work could possibly be designed to typify; what there is in 
this dispensation which it was designed to prefigure. We an- 
swer, A similar work in the ministration of Christ, as Paul 
clearly teaches. After stating, in Hebrews 8, that Christ is 
the minister of the true tabernacle, the sanctuary in heaven, he 
states that the priests on earth served unto the example and 
shadow of heavenly things. In other words, the work of the 
earthly priests was a shadow, an example, a correct represen- 
tation, so far as it could be carried out by mortals, of the 
ministration of Christ above. These priests ministered in both 



226 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



apartments of the earthly tabernacle, Christ therefore ministers 
in both apartments of the heavenly temple; for that temple 
has two apartments, or it was not correctly represented by the 
earthly; and our Lord officiates in both, or the service of the 
priest on earth was not a correct shadow of his work. But 
Paul directly states that he ministers in both apartments; for 
he says that he has entered into the holy place (Greek, to. ayia, 
the holy places) by his own blood. Heb. 9 : 12. There is 
therefore a work performed by Christ in his ministry in the 
heavenly temple corresponding to that performed by the priests 
in both apartments of the earthly building. But the work in 
the second apartment, or most holy place, was a special work 
to close the yearly round of service and cleanse the sanctuary. 
Hence Christ's ministration in the second apartment of the 
heavenly sanctuary must be a work of like nature, and con- 
stitute the close of his work as our great High Priest, and the 
cleansing of that sanctuary. 

As through the sacrifices of a former dispensation the sins 
of the people were transferred in figure by the priests to the 
earthly sanctuary, where those priests ministered, so ever since 
Christ ascended to be our intercessor in the presence of his 
Father, the sins of all those who sincerely seek pardon through 
him, are transferred in fact to the heavenly sanctuary where 
he ministers. Whether Christ ministers for us in the heavenly 
holy places with his own blood literally, or only by virtue of 
its merits, we need not stop to inquire. Suffice it to say, that 
his blood has been shed, and through that blood remission of 
sins is "secured in fact, which was obtained only in figure 
through the blood of the calves and goats of the former dis- 
pensation. But those sacrifices had real virtue in this respect: 
they signified faith in a real sacrifice to come; and thus those 
who employed them have an equal interest in the work of 
Christ with those who in this dispensation come to him by 
faith, through the ordinances of the gospel. 

The continual transfer of sins to the heavenly sanctuary 
(and if they are not thus transferred, will any one, in the light 
of the types, and in view of the language of Paul, explain the 
nature of the work of Christ in our behalf?) — this continual 



CHAPTER 8, VERSES IS, U 



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transfer, we say, of sins to the heavenly sanctuary, makes its 
cleansing necessary on the same ground that a like work was 
required in the earthly sanctuary. 

An important distinction between x the two ministrations 
must here be noticed. In the earthly tabernacle, a complete 
round of service was accomplished every year. For three 
hundred and fifty-nine days, in their ordinary years, the minis- 
tration went forward in the first apartment. One day's work 
in the most holy completed the yearly round. The work then 
commenced again in the holy place, and went forward till 
another day of atonement completed the year's work. And so 
on, year by year. This continual repetition of the work was 
necessary on account of the short lives of mortal priests. But 
no such necessity exists in the case of our divine Lord, who 
ever liveth to make intercession for us. (See Ileb. 7 : 23 - 25.) 
Hence the work of the heavenly sanctuary, instead of being a 
yearly work, is performed once for all. Instead of being 
repeated year by year, one grand cycle is allotted to it, in 
which it is carried forward and finished, never to be repeated. 

One year's round of service in the earthly sanctuary repre- 
sented the entire work of the sanctuary above. In the type, 
the cleansing of the sanctuary was the brief closing work of 
the year's service. In the antitype, the cleansing of the sanc- 
tuary must be the closing work of Christ, our great High Priest, 
in the tabernacle on high. In the type, to cleanse the sanc- 
tuary, the high priest entered into the most holy place to min- 
ister in the presence of God before the ark of his testament. In 
the antitype, when the time comes for the cleansing of the 
sanctuary, our High Priest, in like manner, enters into the 
most holy place to make a final end of his intercessory work in 
behalf of mankind. We confidently affirm that no other .con- 
clusion can be arrived at on this subject without doing despite 
to the unequivocal testimony of God's word. 

Reader, do you now see the importance of this subject ? Do 
you begin to perceive what an object of interest for all the world 
is the sanctuary of God ? Do you see that the whole work of 
salvation centers there, and that when the work is done, pro- 
bation is ended, and the cases of the saved and lost are eter- 



228 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



nally decided ? Do you see that the cleansing of the sanctuary 
is a brief and special work, by which the great scheme is for- 
ever finished ? Do you see that if it can be made known when 
this work of cleansing commences, it is a solemn announcement 
to the world that salvation's last hour is reached, and is fast 
hastening to its close ? And this is what the prophecy is de- 
signed to show. It is to make known the commencement of 
this momentous work. " Unto two thousand and three hundred 
days ; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." 

In advance of any argument on the nature and application 
of these days, the position may be safely taken that they reach 
to the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, for the earthly was 
to be cleansed each year; and we make the prophet utter non- 
sense, if we understand him as saying that at the end of 2300 
days, a period of time over six years in length, even if we take 
the days literally, an event should take place which was to oc- 
cur regularly every year. The heavenly sanctuary is the one in 
which the decision of all cases is to be rendered. The prog- 
ress of the work there is what it especially concerns mankind 
to know. If people understood the bearing of these subjects 
on their eternal interests, with what earnestness and anxiety 
would they give them their most careful and prayerful study. 
See on chapter 9 : 20 and onward, an argument on the 2300 
days, showing at what point they terminated, and when the 
solemn work of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary began. 

Verse 15. And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen 
the vision, and sought for the meaning, then, behold, there stood be- 
fore me as the appearance of a man. 16. And I heard a man's voice 
between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this 
man to understand the vision. 

We now enter upon an interpretation of the vision. And 
first of all we have mention of Daniel's solicitude, and his 
efforts to understand these things. He sought for the meaning. 
Those who have given to prophetic studies their careful and 
earnest attention, are not the ones who are unconcerned in such 
matters. They only can tread with indifference over a mine 
of gold, who do not know that a bed of precious metal lies 
beneath their feet. Immediately there stood before the prophet 



CHAPTER 8, VERSES 15 - 19 



229 



as the appearance of a man. The text does not say it was a 
man, as some would fain have us think, who wish to prove that 
angels are dead men, and who resort to such texts as this for 
their evidence. It says, " The appearance of a man," from 
which we are evidently to understand an angel in human form. 
And he heard a man's voice ; that is, the voice of an angel, as 
of a man speaking. The commandment given was, to make 
this man, Daniel, understand the vision. It was addressed to 
Gabriel, a name that signifies " the mighty one." He con- 
tinues his instruction to Daniel in chapter 9. Under the new 
dispensation he was commissioned to announce the birth of 
John the Baptist to his father Zacharias (Luke 1 : 11) ; and that 
of the Messiah to the virgin Mary, verse 26. To Zacharias, he 
introduced himself with these words : " I am Gabriel, that 
stand in the presence of God." From this it appears that he 
was an angel of high order and superior dignity; but the one 
who here addressed him was evidently higher in rank, and had 
power to command and control his actions. This was probably 
no other than the archangel, Michael, or Christ, between whom 
and Gabriel, alone, a knowledge of the matters communicated 
to Daniel existed. (See chapter 10:21.) 

Verse 17. So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I 
was afraid, and fell upon my face : but he said unto me, Understand, 
0 son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision. 18. 
Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on my face 
toward the ground : but he touched me, and set me upright. 19. And 
he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end 
of the indignation; for at the time appointed the end shall be. 

Under similar circumstances to those here narrated, John 
fell down before the feet of an angel, but it was for the pur- 
pose of worship. Eev. 19: 10; 22: 8. Daniel seems to have 
been completely overcome by the majesty of the heavenly mes- 
senger. He prostrated himself with his face to the ground, 
probably as though in a deep sleep, but not really so. Sorrow, 
it is true, caused the disciples to sleep ; but fear, as in this 
case, would hardly have that effect. The angel gently laid 
his hand upon him to give him assurance (how many times 
have mortals been told by heavenly beings to " fear not " ! ) , 
and from this helpless and prostrate condition set him upright. 
15 



230 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



With a general statement that at the time appointed the end 
shall be, and that he will make him know what shall be in the 
last end of the indignation, he enters npon an interpretation of 
the vision. The indignation must be understood to cover a pe- 
riod of time. What time ? God told his people Israel that he 
would pour upon them his indignation for their wickedness ; 
and thus he gave directions concerning the " profane wicked 
prince of Israel : " " Remove the diadem, and take off the 
crown. ... I will overturn, overturn, overturn it : and it shall 
be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give 
it him." Eze. 21:25 - 27, 31. 

Here is the period of God's indignation against his cove- 
nant people ; the period during which the sanctuary and host 
are to be trodden under foot. The diadem was removed, and 
the crown taken off, when Israel was subjected to the kingdom 
of Babylon. It was overturned again by the Medes and Per- 
sians, again by the Grecians, again by the Romans, correspond- 
ing to the three times the word is repeated by the prophet. 
The Jews then, having rejected Christ, were soon scattered 
abroad over the face of the earth; and spiritual Israel has 
taken the place of the literal seed; but they are in subjection 
to earthly powers, and will be till the throne of David is again 
set up, — till He who is its rightful heir, the Messiah, the 
Prince of peace, shall come, and then it will be given him. 
Then the indignation will have ceased. What shall take place 
in the last end of this period, the angel is now to make known 
to Daniel. 

Verse 20. The ram which thou sawest having- two horns are the 
kings of Media and Persia. 21. And the rough goat is the king of 
Grecia : and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. 
22. Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four king- 
doms slxcdl stand up out of the nation, but not in his power. 

As the disciples said to the Lord, so may we here say of the 
angel who spake to Daniel, " Lo, now speakest thou plainly, 
and speakest no proverb." This is an explanation of the vision 
in language as plain as need be given. (See on verses 3-8.) 
The distinguishing feature of the Persian empire, the union of 
the two nationalities which composed it, is represented by the 



CHAPTER 8, VERSES 20 - 25 



231 



two horns of the ram. Grecia attained its greatest glory as a 
unit under the leadership of Alexander the Great, a general as 
famous as the world has ever seen. This part of her history is 
represented by the first jmase of the goat, during which time 
the one notable horn symbolized Alexander the Great. Upon 
his death, the kingdom fell into fragments, but almost imme- 
diately consolidated into four grand divisions, represented by 
the second phase of the goat, when it had four horns which 
came up in the place of the first, which was broken. These 
divisions did not stand in his power. Xone of them possessed 
the strength of the original kingdom. These great waymarks 
in history, on which the historian bestows volumes, the inspired 
penman here gives us in sharp outline, with a few strokes of 
the pencil and a few dashes of the pen. 

Yerse 23. And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the 
transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and 
understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. 24. And his power 
shall be mighty, but not by his own power : and he shall destroy won- 
derfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty 
and the holy people. 25. And through his policy also he shall cause 
craft to prosper in his hand: and he shall magnify himself in his 
heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against 
the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand. 

This power succeeds to the four divisions of the goat king- 
dom in the latter time of their kingdom, that is, toward the 
termination of their career. It is, of course, the same as the 
little horn of verse 9 and onward. Apply it to Rome, as set 
forth in remarks on verse 9, and all is harmonious and clear. 

"A king of fierce countenance." Moses, in predicting pun- 
ishment to come upon the Jews from this same power, calls it 
"a nation of fierce countenance." Dent. 28:19, 50. Xo 
people made a more formidable appearance in warlike array 
than the Romans. " Understanding dark sentences." Moses, 
in the scripture just referred to, says, " Whose tongue thou 
shalt not understand." This could not be said of the Baby- 
lonians, Persians, or Greeks, in reference to the Jews; for the 
Chaldean and Greek languages were used to a greater or less 
extent in Palestine. This was not the case, however, with the 
Latin. 

" When the transgressors are come to the full." All along, 



232 PROPHECY OF DANIEL 

the connection between God's people and their oppressors is 
kept in view. It was on account of the transgressions of his 
people that they were sold into captivity. x\nd their continu- 
ance in sin brought more and more severe punishment. At no 
time were the Jews more corrupt, morally, as a nation, than 
at the time they came under the jurisdiction of the Romans. 

" Mighty, but not by his own power." The success of the 
Romans was owing largely to the aid of their allies, and divi- 
sions among their enemies, of which they were ever ready to 
take advantage. 

" He shall destroy wonderfully." The Lord told the Jews 
by the prophet Ezekiel that he would deliver them to men who 
were " skilful to destroy." How full of meaning is such a 
description, and how applicable to the Romans ! In taking Je- 
rusalem, they slew eleven hundred thousand Jews, and made 
ninety-seven thousand captives. So wonderfully did they des- 
troy this once mighty and holy people. 

And what they could not accomplish by force, they secured 
by artifice. Their flatteries, fraud, and corruptions w r ere as 
fatal as their thunderbolts of war. And Rome, finally, in 
the person of one of its governors, stood up against the Prince 
of princes, by giving sentence of death against Jesus Christ. 
" But he shall be broken without hand," an expression which 
identifies the destruction of this power with the smiting of the 
image of chapter 2. 

Verse 26. And the vision of the evening and the morning which 
was told is true; wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be 
for many days. 27. And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days ; 
afterward I rose up, and did the king's business ; and I was astonished 
at the vision, but none understood it. 

" The vision of the evening and the morning," is that of the 
2300 days. In view of the long period of oppression, and the 
calamities which were to come upon his people, Daniel fainted, 
and was sick certain days. He was astonished at the vision, 
but did not understand it. Why did not Gabriel at this time 
fully carry out his instructions, and cause Daniel to understand 
the vision ? — Because Daniel had received all that he could 
then bear. Further instruction is therefore deferred to a fu- 
ture time. 




CHAPTEE IX. 



Verse 1. In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the 
seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chal- 
deans ; 2. In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books 
the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jere- 
miah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the deso- 
lations of Jerusalem. 

THE vision recorded in the preceding chapter was given 
in the third year of Belshazzar, b. c. 538. In the same 
year, which was also the first of Darius, the events nar- 
rated in this chapter occurred. Consequently less than one 
year is passed over between these two chapters. Although Dan- 
iel, as prime minister of the foremost kingdom on the face of 
the earth, was cumbered with cares and burdens, he did not let 
this deprive him of the privilege of studying into things of 
higher moment, even the purposes of God as revealed to his 
prophets. He understood by books, that is, the writings of 
Jeremiah, that God would accomplish seventy years in the 
captivity of his people. This prediction is found in Jer. 25 : 
12 ; 29 : 10. The knowledge of it, and the use that was made 
of it, shows that Jeremiah w r as early regarded as a divinely 
inspired prophet ; otherwise his writings would not have been 
so soon collected, and so extensively copied. Though Daniel 
was for a time contemporary with him, he had a copy of his 
works which he carried with him in his captivity; and though 
he was so great a prophet himself, he w r as not above studying 

(233) 



234 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



carefully what God might reveal to others of his servants. 
Commencing the seventy years b. c. 606, Daniel understood 
that they were now drawing to their termination; and God 
had even commenced the fulfilment by overthrowing the king- 
dom of Babylon. 

Verse 3. And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer 
and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes. 

Because God has promised, we are not released from the 
responsibility of beseeching him for the fulfilment of his word. 
Daniel might have reasoned in this manner : God has promised 
to release his people at the end of the seventy years, and he 
will accomplish this promise ; I need not therefore concern 
myself at all in the matter. Daniel did not thus reason; but 
as the time drew near for the accomplishment of the word of 
the Lord, he set himself to seek the Lord with all his heart. 
And how earnestly he engaged in the work, even with fasting, 
and sackcloth, and ashes ! This was the year, probably, in 
which he was cast into the lions' den; and the prayer of which 
we here have an account may have been the burden of that 
petition, which, regardless of the unrighteous human law which 
had been secured to the contrary, he offered before the Lord 
three times a day. 

Verse 4. And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my con- 
fession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the 
covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his 
commandments. 

We here have the opening of Daniel's Avonderful prayer, — 
a prayer expressing such humiliation and contrition of heart 
that one must be without feeling who can read it unmoved. 
He commences by acknowledging the faithfulness of God. 
God never fails in any of his engagements with his followers. 
It was not from any lack on God's part in defending and 
upholding them, that the Jews were then in the furnace of 
captivity, but only on account of their sins. 

Verse 5. We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have 
done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy pre- 
cepts and from thy judgments: 6. Neither have we hearkened unto 



CHAPTER 9, VERSES 5 -lk 



235 



thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our 
princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. 7. O 
Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of 
faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of 
Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, 
through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of 
their trespass that they have trespassed against thee. 8. O Lord, to 
us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to 
our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. 9. To the Lord our 
God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against 
him;«10. Neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to 
walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. 
11. Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that 
they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon 
us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of 
God, because we have sinned against him. 12. And he hath confirmed 
his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that 
judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil : for under the whole 
heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem. 13. 
As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us : 
yet made we not our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might 
turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth. 14. Therefore 
hath the Lord watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us : for 
the Lord our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for 
we obeyed not his voice. 

To this point Daniel's prayer is employed in making a full 
and heart-broken confession of sin. lie vindicates fully the 
course of the Lord, acknowledging their sins to be the cause of 
all their calamities, as God had threatened them by the prophet 
Moses. And he does not discriminate in favor of himself. ~No 
self-righteousness appears in his petition. And although he 
had suffered long for others' sins, enduring seventy years of 
captivity for the wrongs of his people, himself meanwhile liv- 
ing a godly life, and receiving signal honors and blessings from 
the Lord, he brings no accusations against any one to the exclu- 
sion of others, pleads no sympathy for himself as a victim of 
others' wrongs, but ranks himself in with the rest, and says, 
We have sinned, and unto us belongs confusion of face. And 
he acknowledges that they had not heeded the lessons God 
designed to teach them by their afflictions, by turning again 
unto him. 

An expression in the 14th verse is worthy of especial no- 
tice : " Therefore hath the Lord watched upon the evil, and 



236 PROPHECY OF DANIEL 

brought it upon us." Because sentence against an evil work 
is not executed speedily, therefore the hearts of the sons of 
men are fully set in them to do evil. But none may think that 
the Lord does not see, or that he has forgotten. His retribu- 
tions will surely overtake the transgressor, against whom they 
are threatened, without deviation and without fail. He will 
watch upon the evil, and in his own good time will bring it 
to pass. 

Verse 15. And now, 0 Lord our God, that hast brought thy peo- 
ple forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast 
gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done 
wickedly. 16. 0 Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech 
thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Je- 
rusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniq- 
uities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach 
to all that are about us. 17. Now therefore, O our God, hear the 
prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to 
shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake. 18. 
O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold 
our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do 
not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, 
but for thy great mercies. 19. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O 
Lord, hearken and do ; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God : for 
thy city and thy people are called by thy name. 

The prophet now pleads the. honor of the Lord's name as a 
reason why he desires that his petition should be granted. He 
refers to the fact of their deliverance from Egypt, and the great 
renown that had accrued to the Lord's name for all his won- 
derful works manifested among them. All this would be lost, 
should he now abandon them to perish. Moses used the same 
argument in pleading for Israel, lumbers 14. Not that God 
is moved with motives of ambition and vainglory ; but when his 
people are jealous for the honor of his name, when they evince 
their love for him by pleading with him to work, not for their 
own personal benefit, but for his own glory, that his name may 
not be reproached and blasphemed among the heathen, this is 
acceptable with him. Daniel then intercedes for the city of 
Jerusalem, called by God's name, and his holy mountain, for 
which he has had such love, and beseeches him, for his mer- 
cies' sake, to let his anger be turned away. Finally, his mind 
centers upon the holy sanctuary, God's own dwelling-place upon 



THE ANGEL GABRIEL SENT TO INSTRUCT DANIEL 



CHAPTER 9, VERSES 15-21 



239 



this earth, and he pleads that its desolations may be repaired. 

Daniel understood the seventy years of captivity to be near 
their termination. From his allusion to the sanctuary, it is 
evident that he so far misunderstood the important vision given 
him in chapter 8 as to suppose that the 2300 days, at the ter- 
mination of which the sanctuary was to be cleansed, expired at 
the same time. This misapprehension was at once corrected 
when the angel came to give him further instruction in answer 
to his prayer, the narration of which is next given. 

Verse 20. And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confess- 
ing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my sup- 
plication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God; 
21. Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom 
I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, 
touched me about the time of the evening oblation. 

We here have the result of Daniel's supplication. He is 
suddenly interrupted by a heavenly messenger. The angel 
Gabriel, appearing again as he had before, in the form of a 
man, whom Daniel had seen in the vision at the beginning, 
touched him. A very important question is at this point to be 
determined. It is to be decided whether the vision of chapter 
8 has ever been explained, and can ever be understood. The 
question is, To what vision does Daniel refer by the expression, 
" the vision at the beginning " \ It will be conceded by all 
that it is a vision of which Ave have some previous record, and 
that in that vision we shall find some mention of Gabriel. We 
must go back beyond this ninth chapter; for all that we have 
in this chapter previous to this appearance of Gabriel, is simply 
a record of Daniel's prayer. Looking back, then, through 
previous chapters, we find mention of only three visions given 
to Daniel. 1. The interpretation of the dream of Nebuchad- 
nezzar was given in a night vision. Chapter 2 : 19. But there 
is no record of any angelic agency in the matter. 2. The 
vision of chapter 7. This was explained to Daniel by " one 
of them that stood by," probably an angel; but we have no 
information as to what angel, nor is there anything in that 
vision which needed further explanation. 3. The vision of 
chapter 8. Here we find some particulars which show this to 



240 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



be the vision referred to. 1. Gabriel is there first brought to 
view by name in the book, and the only time previous to this 
occasion. 2. He was commanded to make Daniel understand 
the vision. 3. Daniel, at the conclusion, says he did not under- 
stand it, showing that Gabriel, at the conclusion of chapter 8, 
had not fulfilled his mission. There is no place in all the Bible 
where this instruction is carried out, if it be not in chapter 9. 
If, therefore, the vision of chapter 8 is not the one referred to, 
we have no record that Gabriel ever complied with the instruc- 
tions given him, or that that vision has ever been explained. 
4. The instruction which the angel now gives to Daniel, as we 
shall see from the following verses, does exactly complete what 
was lacking in chapter 8. These considerations prove beyond 
a doubt the connection between Daniel 8 and 9 ; and this con- 
clusion will be still further strengthened by a consideration of 
the angel's instructions. 

Verse 22. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O 
Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. 
23. At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came 
forth, and I am come to show thee; for thou art greatly beloved; 
therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision. 

The manner in which Gabriel introduces himself on this 
occasion, shows that he has come to complete some unfulfilled 
mission. This can be nothing less than to carry out the in- 
struction to make this man " understand the vision," as re- 
corded in chapter 8. " I am now come forth to give thee skill 
and understanding." As the charge still rested upon him to 
make Daniel understand, and as he explained to Daniel in 
chapter 8 all that he could then bear, and yet he did not un- 
derstand the vision, he now comes to resume his work and com- 
plete his mission. As soon as Daniel commenced his fervent 
supplication, the commandment came forth ; that is, Gabriel 
received instruction to visit Daniel, and impart to him the 
requisite information. From the time it takes to read Daniel's 
prayer down to the point at which Gabriel made his appearance 
upon the scene, the reader can judge of the speed with which 
this messenger was dispatched from the court of heaven to this 
servant of God. ~No wonder that Daniel says he was caused 



CHAPTER 9, VERSES 22, 23 



241 



to fly swiftly, or that Ezekiel compares the movements of these 
celestial beings to a flash of lightning. Eze. 1 : 14. " Under- 
stand the matter/' he says to Daniel. What matter ? — That, 
evidently, which he did not before understand, as stated in the 
last verse of chapter 8. " Consider the vision." What vision ? 
Not the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's image, nor the 
vision of chapter 7, for there was no difficulty with either of 
these; but the vision of chapter 8, in reference to which his 
mind was filled with doubt and astonishment. " I am come 
to show thee," also said the angel. Show thee in reference 
to what ? — Certainly in reference to something wherein he was 
entertaining wrong ideas, and something, at the same time, 
pertaining to his prayer, as it was this which had called forth 
Gabriel on his mission at this time. 

But Daniel had no difficulty in understanding what the 
angel told him about the ram, he-goat, and little horn, the 
kingdoms of Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. Nor was he 
mistaken in regard to the ending of the seventy years' captivity. 
But the burden of his petition was respecting the repairing of 
the desolations of the sanctuary, which lay in ruins; and he 
had undoubtedly drawn the conclusion that when the end of 
the seventy years' captivity came, the time would come for the 
fulfilment of what the angel had said respecting the cleansing 
of the sanctuary at the end of the 2300 days. Now he must 
be set right. And this explains why at this particular time, 
so soon after the previous vision, instruction was sent to him. 
Now the seventy years of captivity were drawing to their close, 
and Daniel was applying to a wrong issue the instruction he 
had before received from the angel. He was falling into a 
misunderstanding, and was acting upon it ; hence he must not 
be suffered longer to remain ignorant of the true import of the 
former vision. " I am come to show thee ; " " understand the 
matter;" " consider the vision." Such were the words used 
by the very person Daniel had seen in the former vision, and 
to whom he had heard the command given, " Make this man to 
understand the vision," and who, he knew, had never carried 
out that instruction. But now he appears, and says, " I am 
now come forth to give thee skill and understanding." How 



242 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



could Daniel's mind be more emphatically carried back to the 
vision of chapter 8, and how could the connection between that 
visit of the angel and this be more distinctly shown, than by 
such words at such a time from such a person? The con- 
siderations already presented are sufficient to show conclusively 
the connection between chapters 8 and 9 ; but this will still 
further appear in subsequent verses. 

One expression seems worthy of notice before we leave 
verse 23. It is the declaration of the angel to Daniel, " For 
thou art greatly beloved." The angel brought this declaration 
direct from the courts of heaven. It expressed the state of 
feeling that existed there in regard to Daniel. Think of 
celestial beings, the highest in the universe, — the Father, the 
Son, the holy angels, — having such regard and esteem for a 
mortal man here upon earth as to authorize an angel to bear 
the message to him that he is greatly beloved ! This is one 
of the highest pinnacles of glory to which mortals can attain. 
Abraham reached another, when it could be said of him that 
he was the " friend of God ; " and Enoch another, when it could 
be said of him that he " walked with God." Can we arrive at 
any such attainments ? God is no respecter of persons ; but he 
is a respecter of character. If in virtue and godliness we could 
equal these eminent men, we could move the divine love to 
equal depths. We, too, could be greatly beloved, — could be 
friends of God, and could walk with him. And we must be 
in our generation what they were in theirs. There is a figure 
used in reference to the last church which denotes the closest 
union with God : " If any man hear my voice, and open the 
door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he 
with me." Rev. 3 : 20. To sup with the Lord denotes an 
intimacy equal to being greatly beloved by him, walking with 
him, or being his friend. How desirable a position! Alas 
for the evils of our nature, which cut us off from this com- 
munion ! Oh for grace to overcome these ! that we may enjoy 
this spiritual union here, and finally enter the glories of his 
presence at the marriage supper of the Lamb. 

Verse 24. Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and 
upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end 



CHAPTER 9, VERSE 2k 



245 



of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in ever- 
lasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and 
to anoint the most Holy. 

Such are the first words the angel utters to Daniel, toward 
imparting to him that instruction which he came to give. Why 
does he thus abruptly introduce a period of time ? We must 
again refer to the vision of chapter 8. W T e have seen that 
Daniel, at the close of that chapter, says that he did not under- 
stand the vision. Some portions of that vision were at the 
time very clearly explained. It could not have been these por- 
tions which he did not understand. We therefore inquire what 
it was which Daniel did not understand, or, in other words, 
what part of the vision was there left unexplained. In that 
vision four prominent things are brought to view: (1) The 
Earn; (2) The He-goat; (3) The. Little Horn; (4) The period 
of the 2300 days. The symbols of the ram, the he-goat, and 
the little horn were explained. Nothing, however, was said 
respecting the time. This must therefore have been the point 
which he did not understand ; and as without this the other 
portions of the vision were of no avail, he could well say, 
while the application of this period was left in obscurity, 
that he did not understand the vision. 

If this view of the subject is correct, we should naturally 
expect, when the angel completed his explanation of the vision, 
that he would commence with the very point which had been 
omitted; namely, the time. And this we find to be true in 
fact. After citing Daniel's attention back to the former vision 
in the most direct and emphatic manner, and assuring him 
that he had now come forth to give him understanding in. the 
matter, he commences upon the very point there omitted, and 
says, " Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and 
upon thy holy city." 

But how does this language show any connection with the 
2300 days, or throw any light upon that period? We an- 
swer : The language cannot be intelligibly referred to anything 
else ; for the word here rendered determined signifies " cut 
off ; " and there is no period from which the seventy weeks 
could be cut off but the 2300 days of the previous vision. How 
16 



246 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



direct and natural, then, is the connection. Daniel's attention 
is fixed upon the 2300 days, which he did not understand, by 
the angel's directing him to the former vision; and he says, 
" Seventy weeks are cut off." Cut off from what? — The 
2300 days, most assuredly. 

Proof may be called for that the word rendered determined 
signifies to cut off. An abundance can be given. The Hebrew 
word thus translated is TjfirO, nehhtak. This word Gesenius, 
in his Hebrew Lexicon, defines as follows : " Properly, to cut 
off ; tropically, to divide ; and so to determine, to decree." In 
the Chaldoe-Rabbinic Dictionary of Stockius, the word nehhtak 
is thus defined : " Scidit, abscidit, conscidit, inscidit, exscidit 
— to cut , to cut away, to cut to pieces, to cut or engrave, to cut 
off." Mercerus, in his Thesaurus, furnishes a specimen of 
Rabbinical usage in the phrase, hhatikah shel basar, " a piece 
of flesh," or " a cut of flesh." He translates the word as it 
occurs in Dan. 9 : 24, by " prsecisa est," is cut off. In the 
literal version of Arias Montanus, it is translated " decisa est," 
is cut off; in the marginal reading, which is grammatically 
correct, it is rendered by the plural, " decisse sunt," are cut 
off. In the Latin version of Junius and Tremellius, nehhtak 
(the passive of hhathak) is rendered " decisse sunt," are cut off. 
Again, in Theodotion's Greek version of Daniel (which is the 
version used in the Vatican copy of the Septuagint, as being the 
most faithful), it is rendered by a-vveT^6rj<ja v (sunetmethesan) , 
were cut off ; and in the Venetian copy by rer^vrat (tetmentai) , 
have been cut. The idea of cutting off is preserved in the 
Vulgate, where the phrase is " abbreviate sunt," are shortened. 

" Thus Chaldaic and Rabbinical authority, and that of the 
earliest versions, the Septuagint and Vulgate, give the single 
signification of cutting off, to this verb." 

" Hengstenberg, who enters into a critical examination of 
the original text, says, e But the very use of the word, which 
does not elsewhere occur, while others much more frequently 
used were at hand if Daniel had wished to express the idea of 
determination, and of which he has elsewhere, and even in 
this portion availed himself, seems to argue that the word stands 
from regard to its original meaning, and represents the seventy 



CHAPTER 9, VERSE 2k 



247 



weeks in contrast with a determination of time (en platei) as a 
period cnt off from subsequent duration, and accurately lim- 
ited.' " — Christology of the Old Testament,, Vol. II, p. SOI. 
Washington, 1839. 

Why, then, it may be asked, did our translators render the 
word determined, when it so obviously means cut off? The 
answer is, They doubtless overlooked the connection between 
the eighth and ninth chapters, and considering it improper to 
render it cut off, when nothing was given from which the 
seventy weeks could be cut off, they gave the word its tropical 
instead of its literal meaning. But, as we have seen, the con- 
struction, the context, and the connection require the literal 
meaning, and render any other inadmissible. 

Seventy weeks, then, or 490 days of the 2300, were cut off 
upon, or allotted to, Jerusalem and the Jews; and the events 
which were to be consummated within that period are briefly 
stated. The transgression was to be finished; that is, the 
Jewish people were to fill up the cup of their iniquity, which 
they did in the rejection and crucifixion of Christ. And end 
of sins, or of sin-offerings, was to be made. This took place 
when the great offering was made on Calvary. Reconciliation 
for iniquity was to be provided. This was made by the sacri- 
ficial death of the Son of God. Everlasting righteousness was 
to be brought in ; the righteousness which our Lord manifested 
in his sinless life. The vision and the prophecy were to be 
sealed up, or made sure. By the events given to transpire in 
the seventy weeks, the prophecy is tested. By this the appli- 
cation of the whole vision is determined. If the events of this 
period are accurately fulfilled, the prophecy is of God, and will 
all be accomplished ; and if these seventy weeks are fulfilled as 
weeks of years, then the 2300 days, of which these are a part, 
are so many years. Thus the events of the seventy weeks fur- 
nish a key to the whole vision. And the " most holy " was to 
be anointed ; the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary. In 
the examination of the sanctuary, on chapter 8 : 14, we saw that 
a time came when the earthly sanctuary gave place to the heav- 
enly, and the priestly ministration was transferred to that. 
Before the ministration in the sanctuary commenced, the sane- 



248 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



tuary and all the holy vessels were to be anointed. Ex. 40 : 9, 
10. The last event, therefore, of the seventy weeks, here 
brought to view, is the anointing of the heavenly tabernacle, 
or the opening of the ministration there. Thus this first 
division of the 2300 days brings us to the commencement of 
the service in the first apartment of the heavenly sanctuary, 
as the whole period brings us to the commencement of the 
service in the second apartment, or most holy place, of that 
sanctuary. 

The argument must now be considered conclusive that the 
ninth chapter of Daniel explains the eighth, and that the sev- 
enty weeks are a part of the 2300 days ; and with a few 
extracts from the writings of others we will leave this point. 

The Advent Shield in 1844 said: — 

" We call attention to one fact which shows that there is a 
necessary ' connection ' between the seventy weeks of the ninth 
chapter, and something else which precedes or follows it, called 
' the vision/ It is found in the 24th verse : ' Seventy weeks 
are determined [are cut off] upon thy people, ... to seal up 
the vision/ etc. ~No\v there are but two significations to the 
phrase i seal up. 7 They are, first, ' to make secret/ and sec- 
ond, ' to make sure.' We care not now in which of these sig- 
nifications the phrase is supposed to be used. That is not the 
point now before us. Let the signification be what it may, it 
shows that the prediction of the seventy weeks necessarily re- 
lates to something else beyond itself, called ' the vision/ in 
reference to which it performs this work, 1 to seal up.' To 
talk of its sealing up itself is as much of an absurdity as to 
suppose that Josephus was so much afraid of the Romans that 
he refrained from telling the world that he thought the fourth 
kingdom of Daniel was ' the kingdom of the Greeks.' It is no 
more proper to say that the ninth chapter of Daniel i is com- 
plete in itself/ than it would be to say that a map which was 
designed to show the relation of Massachusetts to the United 
States, referred to nothing but Massachusetts. It is no more 
complete in itself than a bond given in security for a note, or 
some other document to which it refers, is complete in itself; 
and we doubt if there is a schoolboy of fourteen years in the 



CHAPTER 9, VERSES 24 -27 249 

land, of ordinary capacity, who would not, on reading the 
ninth chapter, with an understanding of the clause before us, 
decide that it referred to something distinct from itself, called 
' the vision.' What vision it is, there is no difficulty in deter- 
mining. It naturally and obviously refers to the vision which 
was not fully explained to Daniel, and to which Gabriel calls 
his attention in the preceding verse, — the vision of the eighth 
chapter. Daniel tells us that Gabriel was commanded to make 
him understand the vision (8: 16). This was not fully done 
at that interview connected with the vision; he is therefore 
sent to give Daniel the needed ' skill and understanding,' — 
to explain its ' meaning ' by communicating to him the pre- 
diction of the seventy weeks." 

" We claim that the ninth of Daniel is an appendix to the 
eighth, and that the seventy weeks and the 2300 days, or years, 
commence together. Our opponents deny this/' — Signs of the 
Times, 1843. 

" The grand principle involved in the interpretation of the 
2300 days of Dan. 8: 14, is that the seventy weeks' of Dan. 
9 : 24 are the first 490 days of the 2300 of the eighth chapter." 
— Advent Shield, p. 49. 

" If the connection between the seventy weeks of Daniel 9 
and the 2300 days of Daniel 8 does not exist, the whole system 
is shaken to its foundation ; if it does exist, as we suppose, the 
system must stand/' — Harmony of the Prophetic Chronology, 
p. 33. 

Says the learned Dr. Hales, in commenting upon the sev- 
enty weeks, " This chronological prophecy was evidently de- 
signed to explain the foregoing vision, especially in its chron- 
ological part of the 2300 days." — Chronology, Vol. II, p. 517. 

Verse 25. Know therefore and understand, that from the going 
forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto 
the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and 
two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in 
troublous times. 26. And after threescore and two weeks shall Mes- 
siah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince 
that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end 
thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations 
are determined. 27. And he shall confirm the covenant with many 
for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacri- 



250 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



fice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abomina- 
tions he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that 
determined shall be poured upon the desolate. 

The angel now gives to Daniel the event which is to mark 
the commencement of the seventy weeks. They were to date * 
from the going forth of the commandment to restore and build 
Jerusalem. And not only is the event given which was to 
determine the time of the commencement of this period, but 
those events also which were to transpire at its close. Thus 
a double test is provided by which to try the application of this 
prophecy. But more than this, the period of seventy weeks is 
divided into three grand divisions, and one of these is again 
divided, and the intermediate events are given which were to 
mark the termination of each one of these divisions. If, now, 
we can find a date which will harmonize with all these events, 
we have, beyond a doubt, the true application ; for none but 
that which is correct could meet and fulfil so many conditions. 
Let the reader take in at one view the points of harmony to 
be made, that he may be the better prepared to guard against 
a false application. First, we are to find, at the commence- 
ment of the period, a commandment going forth to restore and 
build Jerusalem. To this work of restoration seven weeks are 
allotted. As we reach the end of this first division, seven 
weeks from the commencement, we are to find, secondly, Jeru- 
salem, in its material aspect restored, the work of building 
the street and the wall fully accomplished. From this point 
sixty-two weeks are measured off ; and as we reach the termina- 
tion of this division, sixty-nine weeks from the beginning, we 
are to see, thirdly, the manifestation before the world of the 
Messiah the Prince. One week more is given us, completing 
the seventy. Fourthly, in the midst of this week the Messiah 
is to be cut off, and to cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease ; 
and, fifthly, when the last week of that period which was 
allotted to the Jews as the time during which they were to be 
the special people of God, expires, we naturally look for the 
going forth of the blessing and work of God to other people. 

We now inquire for the initial date which will harmonize 
with all these particulars. The command respecting Jerusalem 



CHAPTER 9, VERSES 25 - 27 253 

was to include more than mere building. There was to be 
restoration; and by this we must understand all the forms and 
regulations of civil, political, and judicial society. When did 
such a command go forth ? At the time these words were 
spoken to Daniel, Jerusalem lay in complete and utter deso- 
lation, and had thus been lying for seventy years. The resto- 
ration, pointed to in the future, must be its restoration from 
this desolation. We then inquire, When and how was Jeru- 
salem restored after the seventy years' captivity ? 

There are but four events which can be taken as answering 
to the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem. These 
are, (1) The decree of Cyrus for the rebuilding of the house 
of God, b. c. 536 (Ezra 1:1-4); (2) The decree of Darius 
for the prosecution of that work, which had been hindered, b. c. 
519 (Ezra 6:1-12); (3) The decree of Artaxerxes to Ezra, 
b. c. 457 (Ezra 7) ; and (4) The commission to J^ehemiah from 
the same king in his twentieth year, b. c. 444. Nehemiah 2. 

Dating from the first two of these decrees, the seventy 
weeks, being weeks of years, 1 490 years in all, would fall 
many years short of reaching even to the Christian era ; besides, 
these decrees had reference principally to the restoration of 
the temple and the temple-worship of the Jews, and not to the 
restoration of their civil state and polity, all of which must be 
included in the expression, " To restore and to build Jerusalem." 

These made a commencement of the work. They were 
preliminary to what was afterward accomplished. But of 
themselves they were altogether insufficient, both' in their dates 
and in their nature, to meet the requirements of the prophecy; 

1 The explanation of these prophetic periods is based on what is called the 
"year-day principle;" that is, making each day stand for a year, according to 
the Scriptural rule for the application of symbolic time. Eze. 4:6; Num. 14: 34. 
That the time in these visions of Daniel 8 and 9 is symbolic is evident from the 
nature and scope of the prophecy. The question calling out the answers on this 
point was, " How long the vision ? " The vision, reckoning from 538 B. C. to our 
own time, sweeps over a period more than 2400 years in length. But if the 
2300 days of the vision are literal days, we have a period of only a little over 
six years and a half for the duration of the kingdoms and the transaction of the 
great events brought to view, which is absurd ! The year-day principle numbers 
among its supporters such names as Augustine, Tichonius, Primasius, Andreas, the 
venerable Bede, Ambrosius, Ansbertus, Berengaud, and Bruno Astensis, besides the 
leading modern expositors. (See Elliott's " Horae Apocalyptical," Vol. Ill, p. 241; 
and "The Sanctuary and Its Cleansing," pp. 45-52.) But what is more conclusive 
than all else is the fact that the prophecies have actually been fulfilled on this prin- 
ciple, — a demonstration of its correctness from which there is no appeal. This 
will be found in the prophecy of the seventy weeks throughout, and all the prophetic 
periods of Daniel 7 and 12, and Revelation 9, 12, and 13. 



254 PROPHECY OF DANIEL 

and thus failing in every respect, they cannot be brought into 
the controversy as marking the point from which the seventy 
weeks are to date. The only question now lies between the 
decrees which were granted to Ezra and to ^ehemiah re- 
spectively. 

The facts between which we are to decide here are briefly 
these: In 457 b. a, a decree was granted to Ezra by the 
Persian emperor Artaxerxes Longimanus to go up to Jerusa- 
lem with as many of his people as were minded to go with him. 
The commission granted him an unlimited amount of treasure, 
to beautify the house of God, to procure offerings for its serv- 
ice, and to do whatever else might seem good unto him. It 
empowered him to ordain laws, set magistrates and judges, 
and execute punishment even unto death ; in other words, to 
restore the Jewish state, civil and ecclesiastical, according to 
the law of God and the ancient customs of that people. In- 
spiration has seen fit to preserve this decree ; and a full and 
accurate copy of it is given in the seventh chapter of the book 
of Ezra. In the original, this decree is given, not in Hebrew, 
like the rest of the book of Ezra, but in the Chaldaic (or 
Eastern Aramaic), the language then used at Babylon; and 
thus we are furnished with the original document by virtue of 
which Ezra was authorized to restore and build Jerusalem. 

Thirteen years after this, in the twentieth year of the same 
king, b. c. 444, Nehemiah sought and obtained permission to 
go up to Jerusalem. Nehemiah 2. Permission was granted 
him, but we have no evidence that it was anything more than 
verbal. It pertained to him individually, nothing being said 
about others going up with him. The king asked him how 
long a journey he wished to make, and when he would return. 
He received letters to the governors beyond the river to help 
him on his way to Juclea, and an order to the keeper of the 
king's forest for timber for beams, etc. When he arrived at 
Jerusalem, he found rulers and priests, nobles and people, al- 
ready engaged in the work of building Jerusalem. Neh. 2 : 
16. These were, of course, acting under the decree given to 
Ezra thirteen years before. And finally, Nehemiah, having 



CHAPTER 9, VERSES 25 - 27 



255 



arrived at Jerusalem, finished the work he came to accomplish, 
in fifty -two days. Xeh. 6:15. 

Xow which of these commissions, Ezra's or Xehemiah's, 
constitutes the decree for the restoration of Jerusalem, from 
which the seventy weeks are to be dated \ It hardly seems 
that there can be any question on this point. 

1. The grant to Xehemiah cannot be called a decree. It 
was necessary that a Persian decree should be put in writing, 
and signed by the king. Dan. 6 : 8. Such was the document 
given to Ezra ; but Xehemiah had nothing of the kind, his 
commission being only verbal. If it be said that the letters 
given him constitute the decree, then the decree was issued, 
not to Xehemiah, but to the governors beyond the river; be- 
sides, these would constitute a series of decrees, and not one 
decree, as the prophecy contemplates. 

2. The occasion of IsTehemiah's petition to the king for 
permission to go up to Jerusalem was the report which certain 
ones, returning, had brought from thence, that those in the 
province were in great affliction and reproach, also that the 
wall of Jerusalem was broken down, and the gates thereof 
burned with fire. X eh end ah 1. Whose work were these walls 
and gates that were broken down and burned with fire ? — 
Evidently the work of Ezra and his associates ; for it cannot 
for a moment be supposed that the utter destruction of the city 
by Xebuchadnezzar, one hundred and forty-four years previous 
to that time, would have been reported to Xehemiah as a mat- 
ter of news, nor that he would have considered it, as he evi- 
dently did, a fresh misfortune, calling for a fresh expression of 
grief. A decree, therefore, authorizing the building of these, 
had gone forth previous to the grant to J^ehemiah ; and the 
attempt that had been made to execute the work, had fallen 
into embarrassment, which Xehemiah wished to relieve. 

3. If any should contend that Xehemiah's commission must 
be a decree, because the object of his request was that he might 
build the city, it is sufficient to reply, as shown above, that 
gates and walls had been built previous to his going up ; be- 
sides, the work of building which he went to perform was 
accomplished in fifty-two days; whereas, the prophecy allows 



256 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



for the building of the city, seven weeks, or forty-nine years. 

4. There was nothing granted to Nehemiah which was not 
embraced in the decree to Ezra; while the latter had all the 
forms and conditions of a decree, and was vastly more ample 
in its provisions. 

5. It is evident from the prayer of Ezra, as recorded in 
chapter 9 : 9 of his book, that he considered himself fully em- 
powered to proceed with the building of the city and the wall ; 
and it is evident that he understood, further, that the con- 
ditional prophecies concerning his people were then fulfilled, 
from the closing words of that prayer, in which he says, 
" Should we again break thy commandments, and join in af- 
finity with the people of these abominations ? wouldst not thou 
be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there 
should be no remnant nor escaping ? " 

6. Reckoning from the commission to J^ehemiah, b. c. 444, 
the dates throughout are entirely disarranged; for from that 
point the troublesome times which were to attend the building 
of the street and wall did not last seven weeks, or forty-nine 
years. Reckoning from that date, the sixty-nine weeks, or 
483 years, which were to extend to the Messiah the Prince, 
bring us to a. d. 40 ; but Jesus was baptized of John in Jordan, 
and the voice of the Father was heard from heaven declaring 
him his Son, in a. d. 27, thirteen years before. According to 
this calculation, the midst of the last or seventieth week, which 
is marked by the crucifixion, is placed in a. d. 44, but the cru- 
cifixion took place in a. d. 31, thirteen years previous. And 
lastly, the seventy weeks, or 490 years, dating from the twen- 
tieth of Artaxerxes, extend to a. d. 47, with absolutely nothing 
to mark their termination. Hence if that be the year, and the 
grant to Nehemiah the event, from which to reckon, the proph- 
ecy has proved a failure. As it is, it only proves that theory 
a failure which dates the seventy weeks from ^ehemiah's com- 
mission in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes. 

7. Will these dates harmonize if we reckon from the decree 
to Ezra ? Let us see. In this case, 457 b. c. is our starting- 
point. Eorty-nine years were allotted to the building of the 
city and the wall. On this point, Prideaux (Connexion, Vol, 



CHAPTER 9, VERSES 25 - 27 



257 



I, p. 322) says: " In the fifteenth year of Darius Nothus 
ended the first seven weeks of Daniel's prophecy. For then 
the restoration of the church and state of the Jews in Jerusa- 
lem and Judea was fully finished, in that last act of reformation 
which is recorded in the thirteenth chapter of ^Nehemiah, from 
the twenty-third verse to the end of the chapter, just forty-nine 
years after it had been commenced by Ezra in the seventh year 
of Artaxerxes Longimanus." This was b. c. 408. 

So far we find harmony. Let us apply the measuring-rod 
of the prophecy still further. Sixty-nine weeks, or 483 years, 
were to extend to Messiah the Prince. Dating from b. c. 457, 
they end in a. d. 27. And what event then occurred ? Luke 
thus informs us : " Now when all the people were baptized, it 
came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the 
heaven was opened, and the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily 
shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, 
which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well 
pleased.'' Luke 3 : 21, 22 ; margin, a. d. 27. After this, 
Jesus came " preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 
and saying, The time is fulfilled." Mark 1:14, 15. The 
time here mentioned must have been some specific, definite, 
and predicted period; but no prophetic period can be found 
then terminating, except the sixty-nine weeks of the prophecy 
of Daniel, which were to extend to the Messiah the Prince. 
The Messiah had now come ; and with his own lips he an- 
nounced the termination of that period which was to be marked 
by his manifestation. 1 

1 Luke declares that Jesus " began to be about thirty years of age " at the time 
of his baptism (L,uke 3:23); and almost immediately after this he entered upon his 
ministry. How, then, could his ministry commence in A. D. 27, and he still be 
of the age named by L,uke? The answer to this question is found in the fact that 
Christ was born between three and four yearo before the beginning of the Christian 
era, that is, before the year marked A. D. 1. The mistake of dating the Christian 
era something over three years this side of the birth of Christ, instead of dating 
it from the*year of his birth, as it was designed to be, arose on this wise: One of 
the most important of ancient eras was reckoned from the building of the city of 
Rome — ab urbe condita, expressed by the abbreviation A. U. C, or more briefly, 
U. C. In the year which is now numbered A. D. 532, Dionysius Kxiguus, a Scythian 
by birth, and a Roman abbot, who flourished in the reign of Justinian, invented the 
Christian era. According to the best evidence at his command, he placed the birth 
of Christ U. C 753. But Christ was born before the death of Herod; and it was 
afterward ascertained on the clearest evidence that the death of Herod occurred in 
April, U. C. 750. Allowing a few months for the events recorded in Christ's life 
before the time of Herod's death, his birth is carried back to the latter part of U. C 
741), a little over three years before A. D. 1. Christ was therefore thirty years 
of age in A. D. 27. " The vulgar [common] era began to prevail in the West 
about the time of Charles Martel and Pope Gregory II, A. D. 730; but was not 



258 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



Here, again, is indisputable harmony. But further, the 
Messiah was to confirm the covenant with many for one week. 
This would be the last week of the seventy, or the last seven 
years of the 490. In the midst of the week, the prophecy 
informs us, he should cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease. 
These Jewish ordinances, pointing to the death of Christ, could 
cease only at the cross; and there they did virtually come to 
an end, though the outward observance was kept up till the 
destruction of Jerusalem, a. d. 70. After threescore and two 
weeks, according to the record, the Messiah was to be cut off. 
It is the same as if it had read: And after threescore and two 
weeks, in the midst of the seventieth week, shall Messiah be 
cut off, and cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease. JSTow, 
as the word midst here means middle, according to an abun- 
dance of authority which we might produce if necessary, the 
crucifixion is definitely located in the middle of the seventieth 
week. 

It now becomes an important point to determine in what 
year the crucifixion took place. The following evidence is 
sufficient to be considered absolutely decisive on this question. 

It is not to be questioned that our Saviour attended every 
Passover that occurred during his public ministry; and we 
have mention of only four such occasions previous to his cruci- 
fixion. These are found in the following passages : John 2 : 
13 ; 5 : 1 ; 6 : 4 ; 13 : 1. At the last-mentioned Passover he was 
crucified. Prom facts already established, let us then see 



sanctioned by any public Acts or Rescripts till the first German Synod, in the 
time of Carolomannus, Duke of the Franks, which, in the preface, was said to be 
assembled 'Anno ab incarnatione Dom. 742, 11 Calendas Maii.' But it was not 
established till the time of , Pope Eugenius IV, A. D. 1431, who ordered this era to 
be used in the public Registers: according to Mariana and others." — Hales' Chron- 
ology, Vol. I, pp. 83, 84. (See also " L,ife of Our L,ord," by S. J. Andrews.) 

The Christian era had become so well established before the mistake above 
referred to was discovered, that no change in the reckoning has been attempted. It 
makes no material difference, as it does not interfere at all with the calculation of 
dates. If the era commenced with the actual year of Christ's birth, the number of 
years B. C. in any case would be four years less, and the years A. D. four years 
more. To illustrate: If we have a period of twenty years, one half before and the 
other half since the Christian era, we say that it commenced B. C. 10 and ended 
A. D. 10. But if we place, the era back to the real point of Christ's birth, there 
would be no change of either terminus of the period, but we should then say that 
it commenced B. C. 6 and ended A. D. 14; that is, four years would be taken from 
the figures B. C. and added to those of A. D. Some have so far misapprehended 
this subject as to claim that the current year should have four years added to it, 
to denote the real year of the Christian era. This would be true, if the reckoning 
began from the actual date of Christ's birth. But this is not the case; the starting- 
point is between three and four years later. 




THE CRUCIFIXION 



CHAPTER 9, VERSES 25 - 27 



26l 



where this would locate the crucifixion. As he began his min- 
istry in the autumn of a. d. 27, his first Passover would occur 
the following spring, a. d. 28 ; his second, a. d. 29 ; his third, 
a. d. 30 ; and his fourth and last, a. d. 31. This gives us 
three years and a half for his public ministry, and corresponds 
exactly to the prophecy that he should be cut off in the midst, 
or middle, of the seventieth week. As that week of years 
commenced in the autumn of a. d. 27, the middle of the week 
would occur three and one half years later, in the spring of 31, 
where the crucifixion took place. Dr. Hales quotes Eusebius, 
a. d. 300, as saying: " It is recorded in history that the whole 
time of our Saviour's teaching and working miracles was three 
years and a half, which is the half of a week [of years]. 
This, John the evangelist will represent to those who critically 
attend to his Gospel." 

Of the unnatural darkness which occurred at the crucifixion, 
Hales, Vol. I, pp. 69, 70, thus speaks: " Hence it appears that 
the darkness which ' overspread the whole land of Judea ' at 
the time of our Lord's crucifixion was preternatural, ' from the 
sixth until the ninth hour,' or from noon till three in the after- 
noon, in its duration, and also in its time, about full moon, 
when the moon could not possibly eclipse the sun. The time 
it happened, and the fact itself, are recorded in a curious and 
valuable passage of a respectable Roman Consul, Aurelius Cas- 
siodorius Senator, about a. d. 514: 6 In the consulate of Tibe- 
rius Csesar Aug. V and iElius Sejanus (u. c. 784, a. d. 31), 
our Lord Jesus Christ suffered, on the 8th of the calends of 
April (25th of March), when there happened such an eclipse 
of the sun as was never before nor since.' 

" In this year, and in this day, agree also the Council of 
Cesarea, a. d. 196 or 198, the Alexandrian Chronicle, Maxi- 
mus Monachus, ^"icephorus Constantinus, Cedrenus ; and in 
this year, but on different days, concur Eusebius and Epipha- 
nius, followed by Kepler, Bucher, Patinus, and Petavius, some 
reckoning it the 10th of the calends of April, others the 13th." 
(See on chapter 11:22.) 

Here, then, are thirteen credible authorities locating the 
crucifixion of Christ in the spring of a. d. 31. We may there- 
17 



262 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



fore set this down as a fixed date, as the most cautious or the 
most skeptical could require nothing more conclusive. This 
being in the middle of the last week, we have simply to reckon 
backward three and a half years to find where sixty-nine of 
the weeks ended, and forward from that point three and a half 
years to find the termination of the whole seventy. Thus going 
back from the crucifixion, a. d. 31, spring, three and a half 
years, we find ourselves in the autumn of a. d. 27, where, as 
we have seen, the sixty-nine weeks ended, and Christ com- 
menced his public ministry. And going from the crucifixion 
forward three and a half years, we are brought to the autumn 
of a. d. 34, as the grand terminating point of the whole period 
of the seventy weeks. This date is marked by the martyrdom 
of Stephen, the formal rejection of the gospel of Christ by the 
Jewish Sanhedrin in the persecution of his disciples, and the 
turning of the apostles to the Gentiles. And these are just 
the events which one would expect to take place when that 
specified period which was cut off for the Jews, and allotted 
to them as a peculiar people, should fully expire. 

A word respecting the elate of the seventh of Artaxerxes, 
when the decree for restoring Jerusalem was given to Ezra, 
and the array of evidence on this point is complete. Was the 
seventh of Artaxerxes b. c. 457 ? For all those who can ap- 
preciate the force of facts, the following testimony will be 
sufficient here : — 

" The Bible gives the data for a complete system of chro- 
nology, extending from the creation to the birth of Cyrus — 
a clearly ascertained elate. From this period downward we 
have the undisputed canon of Ptolemy, and the undoubted era 
of Nabonassar, extending below our vulgar era. At the point 
where inspired chronology leaves us, this canon of undoubted 
accuracy commences. And thus the whole arch is spanned. 
It is by the canon of Ptolemy that the great prophetical period 
of seventy weeks is fixed. This canon places the seventh year 
of Artaxerxes in the year b. c. 457 ; and the accuracy of this 
canon is demonstrated by the concurrent agreement of more 
than twenty" eclipses. This date we cannot change from b. c. 
457, without first demonstrating the inaccuracy of Ptolemy's 



CHAPTER 9, VERSES 25 - 27 



263 



canon. To do this it would be necessary to show that the 
large number of eclipses by which its accuracy has been re- 
peatedly demonstrated have not been correctly computed; and 
such a result would unsettle every chronological date, and 
leave the settlement of epochs and the adjustment of eras 
entirely at the mercy of every dreamer, so that chronology 
would be of no more value than mere guesswork. As the 
seventy weeks must terminate in a. d. 34 unless the seventh of 
Artaxerxes is wrongly fixed, and as that cannot be changed 
without some evidence to that effect, we inquire, What evidence 
marked that termination ? The time when the apostles turned 
to the Gentiles harmonizes with that date better than any 
other which has been named. And the crucifixion in a. d. 31, 
in the midst of the last week, is sustained by a mass of testi- 
mony which cannot be easily invalidated." — Advent Herald. 

From the facts above set forth, we see that, reckoning the 
seventy weeks from the decree given to Ezra in the seventh 
of Artaxerxes, b. c. 457, there is the most perfect harmony 
throughout. The important and definite events of the mani- 
festation of the Messiah at the baptism, the commencement of 
his public ministry, the crucifixion, and the turning away from 
the Jews to the Gentiles, with the proclamation of the new 
covenant, all come in in their exact place, and like a bright 
galaxy of blazing orbs of light, cluster round to set their seal 
to the prophecy, and make it sure. 

It is thus evident that the decree of Ezra in the seventh of 
Artaxerxes, b. c. 457, is the point from which to date the 
seventy weeks. That was the going forth of the decree in the 
sense of the prophecy. The two previous decrees were prepar- 
atory and preliminary to this ; and indeed they are regarded 
by Ezra as parts of it, the three being taken as one great 
whole. Eor in Ezra 6 : 14, Ave read : "And they builded, and 
finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, 
and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and 
Artaxerxes, king of Persia." It will be noticed that the de- 
crees of these three kings are spoken of as one, — " the com- 
mandment [margin, " decree," singular number] of Cyrus and 
Darius and Artaxerxes," showing that they are all reckoned 



] 



264 PROPHECY OF DANIEL 

as a unit, the different decrees being but the successive steps 
by which the work was accomplished. And this decree could 
not be said to have " gone forth/' as intended by the prophecy, 
till the last permission which the prophecy required was em- 
bodied in the decree, and clothed with the authority of the 
empire. This point was reached in the grant given to Ezra, 
but not before. Here the decree assumed the proportions, and 
covered the ground, demanded by the prophecy, and from this 
point its " going forth " must be dated. 

With the seventy weeks we are now done ; but there remain 
a longer period and other important events to be considered. 
The seA^enty weeks are but the first 490 years of the 2300. 
Take 490 from 2300, and there remain 1810. The 490, as we 
have seen, ended in the autumn of a. d. 34. If to this date 
we now add the remaining 1810 years, we shall have the ter- 
mination of the whole period. Thus, to a. d. 34, autumn, add 
1810, and we have the autumn of a. d. 1844. Thus speedily 
and surely do we find the termination of the 2300 days, when 
once the seventy weeks have been located. 

One other point should here be noticed. We have seen 
that the seventy weeks are the first 490 days of the 2300; 
that these days are prophetic, signifying literal years, accord- 
ing to the Bible rule, a day for a year ([Num. 14:34; Eze. 
4: 6), as is proved by the fulfilment of the seventy weeks, and 
as all reliable expositors agree; that they commenced in 457 
b. c. and ended in a. d. 1844, provided the number is right, 
and twenty-three hundred is the correct reading. With this 
point established, there would seem to be no room for further 
controversy. On this point Dr. Hales remarks : — 

" There is no number in the Bible whose genuineness is 
better ascertained than that of the 2300 days. It is found in 
all the printed Hebrew editions, in all the MSS. of Kenicott 
and De Rossi's collations, and in all the ancient versions, ex- 
cept the Vatican copy of the Septuagint, which reads 2400, 
followed by Symmachus; and some copies noticed by Jerom, 
2200, both evidently literal errors in excess and defect, which 
compensate each other and confirm the mean, 2300." — Chro- 
nology, Vol. II, p. 512, 



CHAPTER 9, VERSES 25 - 27 



265 



The query may here arise how the days can. be extended to 
the autumn of 1844 if they commence 457 b. c. ? as it requires 
only 1843 years, in addition to the 457, to make the whole 
number of 2300. Attention to one fact will clear this point of 
all difficulty; and that is, that it takes 457 full years before 
Christ, and 1843 full years after, to make 2300; so that if 
the period commenced with the very first day of 457, it would 
not terminate till the very last day of 1843. Now it will be 
evident to all that if any portion of the year 457 had passed 
away before the 2300 days commenced, just so much of the 
year 1844 must pass away before they would end. We there- 
fore inquire, At what point in the year 457 are we to com- 
mence to reckon ? From the fact that the first forty-nine 
years were allotted to the building of the street and wall, we 
learn that the period is to be dated, not from the starting of 
Ezra from Babylon, but from the actual commencement of the 
work at Jerusalem; which it is not probable could be earlier 
than the seventh month (autumn) of 457, as he did not arrive 
at Jerusalem till the fifth month of that year. Ezra 7:9. 
The whole period would therefore extend to the seventh month, 
autumn, Jewish time, of 1844. 

Those who oppose this view of the prophetic periods, have 
been wont in years past to meet us with this objection : " The 
2300 days have not ended, because the time has passed, and 
the Lord has not come. Why the time passed in 1844 without 
the consummation of our hopes, we acknowledge to be a mys- 
tery; but the passing of the time is proof that the 2300 days 
have not ended." 

Time, however, is no respecter of persons nor of theories ; 
and with the formidable scythe which he is represented as car- 
rying, he sometimes demolishes in the most summary manner 
the grotesque and gossamer theories of men, however dear they 
may be to their authors and defenders. It is so here. Heed- 
less of the wild contortions of those who would fain compel 
him to stop and fulfil their darling predictions, he has kept 
on the swift but even tenor of his way until — what ? every 
limit is passed to which the 2300 days can be extended; and 
thus he has demonstrated that those days have passed. Let 



26U 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



not this point be overlooked. Setting aside for a moment the 
arguments by which they are shown to have ended in 1844, and 
letting them date from any point where the least shadow of 
reason can be imagined for placing them, or from which the 
wildest dreamer could date them, it is still true that the utmost 
limit to which they could extend has gone by. They cannot 
possibly be dated at any point which would bring their termi- 
nation so late as the present time. We therefore say again, 
with not a misgiving as to the truth of the assertion, nor a 
fear of its successful contradiction, Those days have ended ! 

The momentous declaration made by the angel to Daniel, 
" Unto two thousand and three hundred days ; then shall the 
sanctuary be cleansed," is now explained. In our search for 
the meaning of the sanctuary and its cleansing, and the appli- 
cation of the time, we have found not only that this subject 
can be easily understood ; but lo ! the event is even now in 
process of accomplishment, and is almost finished. And here 
we pause a brief moment to reflect upon the solemn position 
into which we are brought. 

We have seen that the sanctuary of this dispensation is the 
tabernacle of God in heaven, the house not made with hands, 
where our Lord ministers in behalf of penitent sinners, the 
place where between the great God and his Son Jesus Christ 
the " counsel of peace " prevails in the work of salvation for 
perishing men. Zech. 6 : 13 ; Ps. 85 : 10. We have seen that 
the cleansing of the sanctuary consists in the removing of the 
sins from the same, and is the closing act of the ministration 
performed therein ; that the work of salvation now centers in 
the heavenly sanctuary ; and when the sanctuary is cleansed, 
the work is done, and the plan is finished. Then the great 
scheme devised at the fall for the salvation of as many of the 
lost race as would avail themselves of its provisions, and carried 
forward for six thousand years, is brought to its final termi- 
nation. Mercy no longer pleads, and the great voice is heard 
from the throne in the temple in heaven, saying, " It is done." 
Rev. 16:17. And what then? — All the righteous are safe 
for everlasting life ; all the wicked are doomed to everlasting 
death. ~No decision can be changed, no reward can be lost, 



CHAPTER 9, VERSES 25 - 27 



267 



and no destiny of despair can be averted, beyond that point. 

And we have seen (and this is what brings the solemnities 
of the Judgment to our own door) that that long prophetic 
period which was to mark the commencement of this final work 
in the heavenly sanctuary, has met its termination in our own 
generation. In 1844 the days ended. And since that time 
the final work for man's salvation has been going forward. 
This work involves an examination of every man's character ; 
for it consists in the remission of the sins of those who shall 
be found worthy to have them remitted, and determines who 
among the dead shall be raised, and who among the living 
shall be changed, at the coming of the Lord, and who, of both 
dead and living, shall be left to have their part in the fearful 
scenes of the second death. And all can see that such a deci- 
sion as this must be rendered before the Lord appears. Every 
man's destiny is to be determined by the deeds done in the 
body, and each one is to be rewarded according to his works. 
2 Cor. 5:10; Rev. 22:12. In the books of ' remembrance 
kept by the heavenly scribes above, every man's deeds will be 
found recorded (Rev. 20:12); and in the closing sanctuary 
work these records are examined, and decision is rendered in 
accordance therewith. Dan. 7:9, 10. It would be most 
natural to suppose that the work would commence with the 
first members of the human race ; that their cases would be 
first examined, and decision rendered, and so on with all the 
dead, generation by generation, in chronological succession 
along the stream of time, till we reach the last generation, — 
the generation of the living, with whose cases the work would 
close. How long it will take to examine the cases of all the 
dead, how soon the work will reach the cases of the living, 
no man can know. And as above remarked, since the year 
1844 this solemn work has been going forward. The light of 
the types, and the very nature of the case, forbid that it should 
be of long continuance. John, in his sublime views of heav- 
enly scenes, saw millions of attendants and assistants engaged 
with our Lord in his priestly work. Revelation 5. And so 
the ministration goes forward. It ceases not, it delays not, 
and it must soon be forever finished. 



268 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



And here we stand — the last, the greatest, and the most 
solemn crisis in the history of onr race immediately impending ; 
the great plan of salvation about finished; the last precious 
years of probation almost ended; the Lord about to come to 
save those who are ready and waiting, and to cut asunder the 
careless and unbelieving ; and the world — ■ alas ! what shall we 
say of them! — deceived with error, crazed with cares and 
business, delirious with pleasure, and paralyzed with vice, they 
have not a moment to spare in listening to solemn truth, nor a 
thought to bestow upon their eternal interests. Let the people 
of God, with eternity right in view, be careful to escape the 
corruption that is in the world through lust, and prepare to 
pass the searching test, when their cases shall come up for 
examination at the great tribunal above. 

To the careful attention of every student of prophecy we 
commend the subject of the sanctuary. In the sanctuary is 
seen the ark of God's testament, containing his holy law; and 
this suggests a reform in our obedience to that great standard 
of morality. The opening of this heavenly temple, or the com- 
mencement of the service in its second apartment, marks the 
commencement of the sounding of the seventh angel. Rev. 11 : 
15, 19. The work performed therein is the foundation of 
the third message of Revelation 14, — the last message of mercy 
to a perishing world. This subject explains the great disap- 
pointment of the Adventists in 1844, by showing that they 
mistook the event to occur at the end of the 2300 days. It 
renders harmonious and clear past prophetic fulfilments, which 
are otherwise involved in impenetrable obscurity. It gives a 
definite idea of the position and work of our great High Priest, 
and brings out the plan of salvation in its distinctive and beau- 
tiful features. It reins us up, as no other subject does, to the 
realities of the Judgment, and shows the preparation we need 
to be able to stand in the coming day. It shows us that we are 
in the waiting time, and puts us upon onr watch ; for we know 
not how soon the work will be finished, and our Lord appear. 
Watch, lest coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. 

After stating the great events connected with our Lord's 
mission here upon the earth, the prophet in the last part of 



CHAPTER 9, VERSES 25 - 27 



269 



verse 27 speaks of the soon-following destruction of Jerusalem 
by the Roman power; and finally of the destruction of that 
power itself, called in the margin " the desolator." 

Note. — That the expression " to anoint the most holy " refers, ac- 
cording to remarks on verse 24 of this chapter, to the anointing of the 
heavenly sanctuary previous to the beginning of Christ's ministry 
therein, and not to any anointing of the Messiah himself, seems to 
be susceptible of the clearest proof. The words translated " most 

holy" are D*£T"lp (Jcodesh hodashim), the "holy of holies," 

• T J T 

an expression which, according to Gesenius, applies to the most holy 
place in the sanctuary, and which in no instance is applied to a 
person, unless this passage be an exception. 

The Advent Shield, No. 1, p. 75, says : "And the last event of the 
seventy weeks, as enumerated in verse 24, was the anointing of the 
' most holy/ or ' the holy of holies/ or the ' sanctum sanctorum ; 7 
not that which was on earth, made with hands, but the true taber- 
nacle, into which Christ, our High Priest, is for us entered. Christ 
was to do in the true tabernacle in heaven what Moses and Aaron 
did in its pattern. (See Hebrews, chapters 6, 7, 8, and 9; Ex. 30: 
22-30; Lev. 8:10-15.)" 

Dr. Barnes, in his notes on this passage, and particularly on the 
words " most holy," says : " The phrase properly means i holy of 
holies/ or most holy ; it is applied often in the Scriptures to the inner 
sanctuary, or the portion of the tabernacle and temple containing 
the ark of the covenant, the two tables of stone, etc." " It is not 
necessarily limited to the inner sanctuary of the temple, but may be 
applied to the whole house." " Others have supposed that this refers 
to the Messiah himself, and that the meaning is that he who was most 
holy would then be consecrated, or anointed, as the Messiah. It is 
probable, as Hengstenberg ( Christology, II, 321, 322) has shown, 
that the Greek translators thus understood it, but it is a sufficient 
objection to this that the phrase, though occurring many times in 
the Scriptures, is never applied to persons, unless this be an in- 
stance." " It seems to me, therefore, that the obvious and fair in- 
terpretation is, to refer it to the temple." 

An understanding of the subject of the heavenly sanctuary would 
have relieved this scripture of the perplexity in which, in the minds 
of some expositors, it seems to be involved. 



DANIEL* LAST VISION 



CHAPTER X. 



Verse 1. In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was 
revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar ; and the 
thing was true, but the time appointed was long: and he understood 
the thing, and had understanding of the vision. 

I HIS verse introduces ns to the last of the recorded visions 



of the prophet Daniel, the instruction imparted to him 



at this time being continued through chapters 11 and 
12, to the close of the book. The third year of Cyrus was 
b. c. 534. Six years had consequently elapsed since Daniel's 
vision of the four beasts in the first year of Belshazzar, b. c. 
540 ; four years since the vision of the ram, he-goat, little horn, 
and 2300 days of chapter 8, in the third year of Belshazzar, 
b. c. 538 ; and four years since the instruction given to Daniel 
respecting the seventy weeks, in the first year of Darius, b. c. 
538, as recorded in chapter 9. On the overthrow of the king- 
dom of Babylon by the Medes and Persians, b. c. 538, Darius, 
through the courtesy of his nephew, Cyrus, was permitted to 
occupy the throne. This he did till the time of his death, 
about two years after. About this time, Cambyses, king of 




(270) 



CHAPTER 10, VERSES 1 - 3 



271 



Persia, father of Cyrus, having also died, Cyrus became sole 
monarch of the second universal empire of prophecy, b. c. 
53 G. This being reckoned as his first year, his third year, 
in which this vision was given to Daniel, would be dated 
b. c. 531. The death of Daniel is supposed to have occurred 
soon after this, he being at this time, according to Prideaux, 
not less than ninety-one years of age. 

Verse 2. In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks. 
3. I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, 
neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled. 

The marginal reading for " three full weeks " is " weeks of 
days ; " which term Dr. Stonard thinks is here used to dis- 
tinguish the time spoken of from the weeks of years, brought 
to view in the preceding chapter. 

For what purpose did this aged servant of God thus humble 
himself and afflict his soul ? — Evidently for the purpose of 
understanding more fully the divine purpose concerning events 
that were to befall the church of God in coming time; for the 
divine messenger sent to instruct him says, " From the first 
day that thou didst set thine heart to understand/' etc. Verse 
12. There was, then, still something which Daniel did not 
understand, but in reference to which he earnestly desired 
light. What was it ? — 'It was undoubtedly some part of his 
last preceding vision; namely, the vision of chapter 9, and 
through that of the vision of chapter 8, of which chapter 9 
was but a further explanation. And as the result of his sup- 
plication, he now receives more minute information respecting 
the events included in the great outlines of his former visions. 

This mourning of the prophet is supposed to have been 
accompanied with fasting; not an absolute abstinence from 
food, but a use of only the plainest and most simple articles 
of diet. He ate no pleasant bread, no delicacies or dainties; 
he used no flesh nor wine; and he did not anoint his head, 
which was with the Jews an outward sign of fasting. How 
long he would have continued this fast had he not received the 
answer to his prayer, we know not ; but his course in continuing 
it for three full weeks shows that, being assured his request 



272 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



was lawful, he was not a person to cease his supplications till 
his petition was granted. 

Verse 4. And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, 
as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel; 5. Then I 
lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in 
linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz : 6. His body 
also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, 
and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in color 
to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a mul- 
titude. 7. And I Daniel alone saw the vision : for the men that were 
with me saw not the vision; but a great quaking fell upon them, so 
that they fled to hide themselves. 8. Therefore I was left alone, and 
saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for 
my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no 
strength. 9. Yet heard I the voice of his words : and when I heard 
the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and 
my face toward the ground. 

By the River Hiddekel the Syriac understands the Eu- 
phrates; the Vulgate, Greek, and Arabic, the Tigris; hence 
Wintle concludes that the prophet had this vision at the place 
where these rivers unite, as they do not far from the Persian 
Gulf. 

A most majestic personage visited Daniel on this occasion. 
The description of him is almost parallel to that given of 
Christ in the Revelation, chapter 1 : 14 - 16 ; and the effect of 
his presence was about such as was experienced by Paul and 
his companions when the Lord met them on their way to 
Damascus. Acts 9:1-7. But this was not the Lord ; for 
the Lord is introduced as Michael in verse 13. It must there- 
fore have been an angel, but one of no ordinary character. 
The inquiry then arises, Of what angel can such a description 
be truthfully given ? There are some points of identity be- 
tween this and other passages which plainly show that this was 
the angel Gabriel. In chapter 8: 16 Gabriel is introduced by 
name. His interview with Daniel at that time produced ex- 
actly the same effect upon the prophet as that described in the 
passage before us. At that time Gabriel was commanded to 
make Daniel understand the vision, and he himself promised 
to make him know what should be in the last end of the indig- 
nation. Having given Daniel all the instruction he was able 



CHAPTER 10, VERSES k - 12 



273 



to bear on that occasion, he subsequently resumed his work, 
and explained another great point in the vision, as recorded in 
chapter 9 : 20 - 27. Yet we learn from chapter 10 that there 
were some points still unexplained to the prophet ; and he set 
his heart again, with fasting and supplication, to understand 
the matter. 

A personage now appears whose presence has the same 
effect upon Daniel as that produced by the presence of Gabriel 
at the first ; and he tells Daniel (verse 14), " Now I am come 
to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the 
latter days," the very information Gabriel had promised to 
give, as recorded in chapter 8:19. But one conclusion can be 
drawn from these facts. Daniel was seeking further light on 
the very vision which Gabriel had been commanded to make 
him understand. Once, already, he had made a special visit 
to Daniel to give him additional information when he sought 
it with prayer and fasting. !N"ow, when he is prepared for 
further instruction, and again seeks it in the same manner in 
reference to the same subject, can it for a moment be supposed 
that Gabriel disregarded his instruction, lost sight of his mis- 
sion, and suffered another angel to undertake the completion 
of his unfinished work ? And the language of verse 14 clearly 
identifies the speaker with the one, who, in the vision of chap- 
ter 8, promised to do that work. 

Verse 10. And, behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon 
my knees and upon the palms of my hands. 11. And he said unto 
me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I 
speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. 
And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling. 12. 
Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that 
thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself be- 
fore thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. 

Daniel having fallen into a swoon at the majestic appear- 
ance of Gabriel (for so the expression " deep sleep " of verse 
9 is generally understood), the angel approaches, and lays his 
hand upon him to give him assurance and confidence to stand 
in his presence. He tells Daniel that he is a man greatly be- 
loved. Wonderful declaration! a member of the human fam- 
ily, one of the same race with us, loved, not merely in the 



274 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



general sense in which God loved the whole world when he 
gave his Son to die for them, but loved as an individual, and 
that greatly ! Well might the prophet receive confidence from 
such a declaration as that, to stand even in the presence of 
Gabriel. He tells him, moreover, that he is come for the pur- 
pose of an interview with him, and he wishes him to bring 
his mind into a proper state to understand his words. Being 
thus addressed, the holy and beloved prophet, assured, but yet 
trembling, stood before the heavenly angel. 

" Fear not, Daniel," continues Gabriel. He had no occa- 
sion to fear before one, even though a divine being, who had 
been sent to him because he was greatly beloved, and in an- 
swer to his earnest prayer. Nor ought the people of God of 
any age to entertain a servile fear of any of those agents who 
are sent forth to minister to their salvation. There is, how- 
ever, a disposition manifested among far too many to allow 
their minds to conceive of Jesus and his angels as only stern 
ministers of justice, innicters of vengeance and retribution, 
rather than as beings who are earnestly working for our salva- 
tion on account of the pity and love with which they regard 
us. The presence of an angel, should he appear bodily be- 
fore them, would strike them with terror; and the thought 
that Christ is soon to appear, and they are to be taken into 
his presence, distresses and alarms them. We recommend to 
such more amiable views of the relation which the Christian 
sustains to Christ, the head of the church, and a little more of 
that perfect love which casts out all fear. 

On verse 12 Bagster has the following pointed note : " Dan- 
iel, as Bishop Newton observes, was now very far advanced in 
years; for the third year of Cyrus was the seventy-third of 
his captivity; and being a youth when carried captive, he 
cannot be supposed to have been less than ninety. Old as 
he was, 1 he set his heart to understand ' the former revela- 
tions which had been made to him, and particularly the vision 
of the ram and he-goat, as may be collected from the sequel; 
and for this purpose he prayed and fasted three weeks. His 
fasting and prayers had the desired effect, for an angel was 
sent to unfold to him those mysteries ; and whoever would excel 



CHAPTER 10, VERSES 10 - IS 



275 



in divine knowledge must imitate Daniel, and habituate him- 
self to study, temperance, and devotion." 

Verse 13. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me 
one and twenty days : but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came 
to help me.; and I remained there with the kings of Persia. 

How often the prayers of God's people are heard, while as 
yet there is no apparent answer. It was even so in this case 
with Daniel. The angel tells him that from the first day he 
set his heart to understand, his words were heard. Yet Dan- 
iel continued to afflict his soul with fasting, and to wrestle 
with God for three full weeks, all unaware that any respect 
was yet paid to his petition. But why was the delay ? — The 
king of Persia withstood the angel. The answer to Daniel's 
prayer involved some action on the part of that king. This 
action he must be influenced to perforin. It doubtless per- 
tained to the work which he was to do, and had already begun 
to do, in behalf of the temple at Jerusalem and the Jews, his 
decree for the building of that temple being the first of the 
series which finally constituted that notable commandment to 
restore and build Jerusalem, at the going forth of which the 
great prophetic period of 2300 days was to begin. And the 
angel is dispatched to influence him to go forward in accord- 
ance with the divine will. 

Ah, how little do we realize what is going on in the unseen 
world in relation to human affairs ! Here, as it were, the cur- 
tain is for a moment lifted, and we catch a glimpse of the 
movements within. Daniel prays. The Creator of the uni- 
verse hears. The command is issued to Gabriel to go to his 
relief. But the king of Persia must act before Daniel's prayer 
is answered ; and the angel hastens to the Persian king. Satan 
no doubt musters his forces to oppose. They meet in the 
royal palace of Persia. All the motives of selfish interest and 
worldly policy which Satan can play upon, he doubtless uses 
to the best advantage to influence the king against compliance 
with God's will, while Gabriel brings to bear his influence in 
the other direction. The king struggles between conflicting 
emotions. He hesitates ; he delays. Day after day passes 



276 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



away; yet Daniel prays on. The king still refuses to yield 
to the influence of the angel ; three weeks expire, and lo ! a 
mightier than Gabriel takes his place in the palace of the king, 
and Gabriel appears to Daniel to acquaint him with the prog- 
ress of events. From the first, said he, your prayer was heard ; 
but during these three weeks which you have devoted to prayer 
and fasting, the king of Persia has resisted my influence and 
prevented my coming. 

Such was the effect of prayer. And God has erected no 
barriers between himself and his people since Daniel's time. 
It is still their privilege to offer up prayer as fervent and 
effectual as his, and, like Jacob, to have power with God, and 
to prevail. 

Who was Michael, who here came to Gabriel's assistance ? 
The term signifies, " He who is like God;" and the Scrip- 
tures clearly show that Christ is the one who bears this name. 
Jude (verse 9) declares that Michael is the archangel. Arch- 
angel signifies " head or chief angel ; " and Gabriel, in our text, 
calls him one, or, as the margin reads, the first, of the chief 
princes. There can be but one archangel ; and hence it is man- 
ifestly improper to use the word, as some do, in the plural. 
The Scriptures never so use it. Paul, in 1 Thess. 4: 16, states 
that when the Lord appears the second time to raise the dead, 
the voice of the archangel is heard. Whose voice is heard 
when the dead are raised ? — The voice of the Son of God. 
John 5:28. Putting these scriptures together, they prove, 
(1) that the dead are called from their graves by the voice of 
the Son of God; (2) that the voice which is then heard is the 
voice of the archangel, proving that the archangel is the Son 
of God; and (3) that the archangel is called Michael; from 
which it follows that Michael is the Son of God. In the 
last verse of Daniel 10, he is called " your prince," and in the 
first of chapter 12, " the great prince which standeth for the 
children of thy people," expressions which can appropriately 
be applied to Christ, but to no other being. 

Verse 14. Now I am come to make thee understand what shall 
befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many 
days. 



CHAPTER 10, VERSES U - 21 



277 



The expression, " yet the vision is for many days," reach- 
ing far into the future, and embracing what should befall the 
people of God even in the latter days, shows conclusively that 
the days given in that vision, namely the 2300, cannot mean 
literal days, but must be days of years. (See on chapter 9, 
verses 25 - 27.) 

Verse 15. And when he had spoken such words unto me, I set my 
face toward the ground, and I became dumb. 16. And, behold, one ' 
like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips ; then I opened 
my mouth, and spake, and said unto him that stood before me, O my 
Lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have re- 
tained no strength. 17. For how can the servant of this my lord 
talk with this my lord? for as for me, straightway there remaineth 
no strength in me, neither is there any breath left in me. 

One of the most marked characteristics manifested by Dan- 
iel was the tender solicitude he felt for his people. Having 
come now clearly to comprehend that the vision portended long 
ages of oppression and suffering for the church, he was so af- 
fected by the view that his strength departed from him, his 
breath ceased, and the power of speech was gone. The vision 
of verse 16 doubtless refers to the former vision of chapter 8. 

Verse 18. Then there came again and touched me one like the 
appearance of a man, and he strengthened me. 19. And said, O man 
greatly beloved, fear not : peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. 
And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened, and said, Let 
my lord speak; for thou hast strengthened me. 20. Then said he, 
Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee? and now will I return to 
fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, lo, the 
prince of Grecia shall come. 21. But I will show thee that which 
is noted in the Scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth 
with me in these things, but Michael your prince. 

The prophet is at length strengthened to hear in full the 
communication which the angel has to make. And Gabriel 
says, " Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee ? " That is, 
do you now know to what end I have come ? Do you under- 
stand my purpose so that you will no more fear ? He then 
announced his intention to return, as soon as his communica- 
tion was complete, to fight with the king of Persia. The word 
with is, in the Septuagint, meta, and signifies, not against, but 
in common with, alongside of ; that is, the angel of God would 
18 



278 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



stand on the side of the Persian kingdom so long as it was in 
the providence of God that that kingdom should continue. 
" But when I am gone forth," continues Gabriel, " lo, the 
prince of Grecia shall come." That is, when he withdraws 
his support from that kingdom, and the providence of God 
operates in behalf of another kingdom, the prince of Grecia 
shall come, and the Persian monarchy he overthrown. 

Gabriel then announced that none — God of course ex- 
cepted — ■ had an understanding with him in the matters he 
was about to communicate except Michael the prince. And 
after he had made them known to Daniel, then there were 
four beings in the universe with whom rested a knowledge of 
these important truths, — Daniel, Gabriel, Christ, and God. 
Four links in this ascending chain of witnesses, — the first, 
Daniel, a member of the human family; the last, Jehovah, 
the God of all! 



*A MTE1AJL PIMPIWOY 



CHAPTER XL 

Verse 1. Also I in the first year of Darius the Mede, even I, 
stood to confirm and to strengthen him. 2. And now will I show thee 
the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia; 
and the fourth shall be far richer than they all : and by his strength 
through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia. 

WE now enter upon a prophecy of future events, clothed 
not in figures and symbols, as in the visions of chap- 
ters 2/, 7, and 8, but given mostly in plain language. 
.Many of the signal events of the world's history, from the 
days of Daniel to the end of the world, are here brought to 
view. This prophecy, says Bishop Newton, may not improp- 
erly be said to be a comment and explanation of the vision of 
chapter 8 ; a statement showing how clearly he perceived the 
connection between that vision and the remainder of the book. 

The angel, after stating that he stood, in the first year of 
Darius, to confirm and strengthen him, turns his attention to 
the future. Three kings shall yet stand up in Persia. To 
stand up means to reign; three kings were to reign in Per- 
sia, referring, doubtless, to the immediate successors of Cyrus. 

(279) " 



i 



280 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



These were, (1) Cambyses, son of Cyrus; (2) Smerdis, an 
impostor; (3) Darius Hystaspes. 

The fourth shall be far richer than they all. The fourth 
king from Cyrus was Xerxes, more famous for his riches than 
his generalship, and conspicuous in history for the magnificent 
campaign he organized against Grecia, and his utter failure in 
that enterprise. He was to stir up all against the realm of 
Grecia. Xever before had there been such a levy of men for 
warlike purposes; never has there been since. His army, ac- 
cording to Herodotus, who lived in that age, consisted of five 
million two hundred and eighty-three thousand two hundred 
and twenty men (5,283,220). And not content with stirring 
up the East alone, he enlisted the Carthaginians of the West 
in his service, who took the field with an additional army of 
three hundred thousand men, raising his entire force to the 
almost fabulous number of over five million and a half. As 
Xerxes looked over that vast concourse, he is said to have wept 
at the thought that in a hundred years from that time not 
one of all those men would be left alive. 

Verse 3. And a mighty king shall stand up, that shall rnle with 
great dominion, and do according to his will. 4. And when he shall 
stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided toward 
the four winds of heaven; and not to his posterity, nor according to 
his dominion which he ruled: for his kingdom shall be plucked up, 
even for others beside those. 

The facts stated in these verses plainly point to Alexander, 
and the division of his empire. (See on chapter 8:8.) Xerxes 
was the last Persian king who invaded Grecia; and the proph- 
ecy therefore passes over the nine successors of Xerxes in 
the Persian empire, and next introduces Alexander the Great. 
Having overthrown the Persian empire, Alexander " became 
absolute lord of that empire, in the utmost extent in which it 
was ever possessed by any of the Persian kings." — Prideaux, 
V ol. I, p. J/.77. His dominion was great, including " the greater 
portion of the then known habitable world ; " and he did ac- 
cording to his will. His will led him, b. c. 323, into a 
drunken debauch, as the result of which he died as the fool 
dieth; and his vainglorious and ambitious projects went into 



ALEXANDER VIEWING THE BODY OF DARIUS 



CHAPTER 11, VERSES 3-5 



283 



sudden, total, and everlasting eclipse. The kingdom was di- 
vided, but not for his posterity; it was plucked up for others 
besides those. Within fifteen years after his death, all his 
posterity had fallen victims to the jealousy and ambition of his 
leading generals. Not one of the race of Alexander was left 
to breathe upon the earth. So short is the transit from the 
highest pinnacle of earthly glory to the lowest depths of ob- 
livion and death. The kingdom was rent into four divisions, 
and taken possession of by Alexander's four ablest, or perhaps 
most ambitious and unprincipled generals, — Cassander, Ly- 
simachus, Seleucus, and Ptolemy. 

Verse 5. And the king of the south shall be strong, and one of his 
princes ; and he shall be strong above him, and have dominion ; his 
dominion shall be a great dominion. 

The king of the north and the king of the south are many 
times referred to in the remaining portion of this chapter. It 
therefore becomes essential to an understanding of the prophecy 
clearly to identify these powers. When Alexander's empire 
was divided, the different portions lay toward the four winds 
of heaven, west, north, east, and south; these divisions of 
course to be reckoned from the standpoint of Palestine, the 
native land of the prophet. That division of the empire lying 
west of Palestine would thus constitute the kingdom of the 
west; that lying north, the kingdom of the north; that lying 
east, the kingdom of the east; and that lying south, the king- 
dom of the south. The divisions of Alexander's kingdom with 
respect to Palestine were situated as follows : Cassander had 
Greece and the adjacent countries, which lay to the west; Ly- 
simachus had Thrace, which then included Asia Minor, and 
the countries lying on the Hellespont and Bosphorus, which lay 
to. the north of Palestine; Seleucus had Syria and Babylon, 
which lay principally to the east; and Ptolemy had Egypt 
and the neighboring countries, which lay to the south. 

During the wars and revolutions which for long ages suc- 
ceeded, these geographical boundaries were frequently changed 
or obliterated; old ones were wiped, out, and new ones insti- 
tuted. But whatever changes might occur, these first divis- 



284 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



ions of the empire must determine the names which these 1 
portions of territory should ever afterward bear, or we have 
no standard by which to test the application of the prophecy; 
that is, whatever power at any time should occupy the territory 
which at first constituted the kingdom of the north, that power, 
so long as it occupied that territory, would be the king of the 
north; and whatever power should occupy that which at first 
constituted the kingdom of the south, that power would so long 
be the king of the south. We speak of only these two, because 
they are the only ones afterward spoken of in the prophecy, 
and because, in fact, almost the whole of Alexander's empire 
finally resolved itself into these two divisions. 

Cassander was very soon conquered by Lysimachus, and 
his kingdom, Greece and Macedon, annexed to Thrace. And 
Lysimachus was in turn conquered by Seleucus, and Macedon 
and Thrace annexed to Syria. 

These facts prepare the way for an application of the text 
before us. The king of the south, Egypt, shall be strong. 
Ptolemy annexed Cyprus, Phoenicia, Caria, Cyrene, and many 
islands and cities to Egypt. Thus was his kingdom made 
strong. But another of Alexander's princes is introduced in 
the expression, " one of his princes.' The Septuagint trans- 
lates the verse thus : "And the king of the south shall be 
strong, and one of his [Alexander's] princes shall be strong 
above him." This must refer to Seleucus, who, as already 
stated, having annexed Macedon and Thrace to Syria, thus 
became possessor of three parts out of four of Alexander's 
dominion, and established a more powerful kingdom than that 
of Egypt. 

Verse 6. And in the end of years they shall join themselves to- 
gether; for the king's daughter of the south shall come to the king 
of the north to make an agreement : but she shall not retain the power 
of the arm; neither shall he stand, nor his arm; but she shall be 
given up, and they that brought her, and he that begat her, and he 
that strengthened her in these times. 

There were frequent wars between the kings of Egypt and 
Syria. Especially was this the case with Ptolemy Philadel- 
phus, the second king of Egypt, and Antiochus Theos, third 
king of Syria. They at length agreed to make peace upon 



CHAPTER 11, VERSES 6 - 9 



285 



condition that Antiochus Tlieos should put away his former 
wife, Laodice, and her two sons, and should marry Berenice, 
the daughter of Ptolemy Philadelphus. Ptolemy accordingly 
brought his daughter to Antiochus, bestowing with her an im- 
mense dowry. 

" But she shall not retain the power of the arm ; " that is, 
her interest and power with Antiochus. And so it proved; for 
some time shortly after, in a fit of love, Antiochus brought 
back his former wife, Laodice, and her children, to court again. 
Then says the prophecy, " Neither shall he [Antiochus] stand, 
nor his arm," or seed. Laodice, being restored to favor and 
power, feared lest, in the fickleness of his temper, Antiochus 
should again disgrace her, and recall Berenice; and conceiving 
that nothing short of his death would be an effectual safeguard 
against such a contingency, she caused him to be poisoned 
shortly after. Neither did his seed by Berenice succeed him 
in the kingdom; for Laodice so managed affairs as to secure 
the throne for her eldest son, Seleucus Callinicus. 

" But she [Berenice] shall be given up. 7 ' Laodice, not con- 
tent with poisoning her husband, Antiochus, caused Berenice 
to be murdered. "And they that brought her." Her Egyp- 
tian women and attendants, in endeavoring to defend her, 
were many of them slain with her. "And he that begat her," 
margin, " whom she brought forth ; " that is, her son, who was 
murdered at the same time by order of Laodice. "And he that 
strengthened her in these times ; " her husband, Antiochus, as 
Jerome supposes, or those who took her part and defended her. 

But such wickedness could not long remain unpunished, as 
the prophecy further predicts, and further history proves. 

Verse 1. But out of a branch of her roots shall one stand up in 
his estate, which shall come Math an army, and shall enter into the 
fortress of the king of the north, and shall deal against them, and 
shall prevail : 8. And shall also carry captives into Egypt their gods, 
with their princes, and with their precious vessels of silver and of 
gold; and he shall continue more years than the king of the north. 
9. So the king of the south shall come into his kingdom, and shall 
return into his own land. 

This branch out of the same root with Berenice was her 
brother, Ptolemy Euergetes. He had no sooner succeeded his 



286 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



father, Ptolemy Philadelphia, in the kingdom of Egypt, than, 
burning, to avenge the death of his sister, Berenice, he raised 
an immense army, and invaded the territory of the king of the 
north, that is, of Seleucns Callinicus, who, with his mother, 
Laodice, reigned in Syria. And he prevailed against them, 
even to the conquering of Syria, Cilicia, the npper parts be- 
yond the Euphrates, and almost all Asia. But hearing that a 
sedition was raised in Egypt requiring his return home, he 
plundered the kingdom of Seleucus, took forty thousand tal- 
ents of silver and precious vessels, and two thousand live hun- 
dred images of the gods. Among these were the images which 
Cambyses had formerly taken from Egypt and carried into 
Persia. The Egyptians, being wholly given to idolatry, be- 
stowed upon Ptolemy the title of Euergetes, or the Benefactor, 
as a compliment for his having thus, after many years, re- 
stored their captive gods. 

This, according to Bishop Newton, is Jerome's account, 
extracted from ancient historians ; but there are authors still 
extant, he says, who confirm several of the same particulars. 
Appian informs us that Laodice having killed Antiochus, and 
after him both Berenice and her child, Ptolemy, the son of 
Philadelphus, to revenge those murders, invaded Syria, slew 
Laodice, and proceeded as far as Babylon. Erom Polybius 
we learn that Ptolemy, surnamed Euergetes, being greatly in- 
censed at the cruel treatment of his sister, Berenice, marched 
with an army into Syria, and took the city of Seleucia, which 
was kept for some years afterward by garrisons of the kings 
of Egypt. Thus did he enter into the fortress of the king 
of the north. Polysenus affirms that Ptolemy made himself 
master of all the country from Mount Taurus as far as to 
India, without war or battle ; but he ascribes it by mistake to 
the father instead of the son. Justin asserts that if Ptolemy 
had not been recalled into Egypt by a domestic sedition, he 
would have possessed the whole kingdom of Seleucus. The 
king of the south thus came into the dominion of the king of 
the north, and returned to his own land, as the prophet had 
foretold. And he also continued more years than the king 
of the north; for Seleucus Callinicus died in exile, of a fall 



CHAPTER 11, VERSES 10, 11 



287 



from his horse; and Ptolemy Euergetes survived him for four 
or five years. 

Verse 10. But his sons shall be stirred up, and shall assemble a 
multitude of great forces: and one shall certainly come, and over- 
flow, and pass through : then shall he return, and be stirred up, even 
to his fortress. 

The first part of this verse speaks of sons, in the plural ; 
the last part, of one, in the singular. The sons of Seleucus 
Callinicus were Seleucus Ceraunus and Antiochus Magnus. 
These both entered with zeal upon the work of vindicating and 
avenging the cause of their father and their country. The 
elder of these, Seleucus, first took the throne. He assembled 
a great multitude to recover his father's dominions ; but being 
a weak and pusillanimous prince, both in body and estate, 
destitute of money, and unable to keep his army in obedience, 
he was poisoned by two of his generals after an inglorious 
reign of two or three years. His more capable brother, Antio- 
chus Magnus, was thereupon proclaimed king, who, taking 
charge of the army, retook Seleucia and recovered "Syria, mak- 
ing himself master of some places by treaty, and of others by 
force of arms. A truce followed, wherein both sides treated 
for peace, yet prepared for war; after which Antiochus re- 
turned and overcame in battle Nicolas, the Egyptian general, 
and had thoughts of invading Egypt itself. Here is the " one " 
who should certainly overflow and pass through. 

Verse 11. And the king of the south shall be moved with choler, 
and shall come forth and fight with him, even with the king of the 
north: and he shall set forth a great multitude; but the multitude 
shall be given into his hand. 

Ptolemy Philopater succeeded his father, Euergetes, in the 
kingdom of Egypt, being advanced to the crown not long after 
Antiochus Magnus had succeeded his brother in the government 
of Syria. He was a most luxurious and vicious prince, but 
was at length aroused at the prospect of an invasion of Egypt 
by Antiochus. He was indeed " moved with choler " for the 
losses he had sustained, and the danger which threatened him ; 
and he came forth out of Egypt with a numerous army to check 



288 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



the progress of the Syrian king. The king of the north was 
also to set forth a great multitude. The army of Antiochus, 
according to Polybius, amounted on thic occasion to sixty-two 
thousand foot, six thousand horse, and one hundred and two 
elephants. In the battle, Antiochus was defeated, and his 
army, according to prophecy, was given into the hands of the 
king of the south. Ten thousand foot and three thousand horse 
were slain, and over four thousand men were taken prisoners ; 
while of Ptolemy's army there were slain only seven hundred 
horse, and about twice that number of infantry. 

Verse 12. And when he hath taken away the multitude, his heart 
shall be lifted up; and he shall cast down many ten thousands; but 
he shall not be strengthened by it. 

Ptolemy lacked the prudence to make a good use of his 
victory. Had he followed up his success, he would probably 
have become master of the whole kingdom of Antiochus; but 
content with making only a few menaces and a few threats, 
he made peace that he might be able to give himself up to the 
uninterrupted and uncontrolled indulgence of his brutish pas- 
sions. Thus, having conquered his enemies, he was overcome 
by his vices, and, forgetful of the great name which he might 
have established, he spent his time in feasting and lewdness. 

His heart was lifted up by his success, but he was far from 
being strengthened by it; for the inglorious use he made of 
it caused his own subjects to rebel against him. But the lift- 
ing up of his heart was more especially manifested in his 
transactions with the Jews. Coming to Jerusalem, he there 
offered sacrifices, and was very desirous of entering into the 
most holy place of the temple, contrary to the law and relig- 
ion of that place; but being, though with great difficulty, re- 
strained, he left the place burning with anger against the 
whole nation of the Jews, and immediately commenced against 
them a terrible and relentless persecution. In Alexandria, 
where the Jews had resided since the clays of Alexander, and 
enjoyed the privileges of the -most favored citizens, forty thou- 
sand according to Eusebius, sixty thousand according to Je- 
rome, were slain in this persecution, The rebellion of the 



CHAPTER 11, VERSES 12 - 11+ 



289 



Egyptians, and the massacre of the Jews, certainly were not 
calculated to strengthen him in his kingdom, but were sufficient 
rather almost totally to ruin it. 

Verse 13. For the king of the north shall return, and shall set 
forth a multitude greater than the former, and shall certainly come 
after certain years with a great army and much riches. 

The events predicted in this verse were to occur " after 
certain years." The peace concluded between Ptolemy Phil- 
opater and Antiochus lasted fourteen years. Meanwhile 
Ptolemy died from intemperance and debauchery, and was 
succeeded by his son, Ptolemy Epiphanes, a child then four 
or five years old. Antiochus, during the same time, having 
suppressed rebellion in his kingdom, and reduced and settled 
the eastern parts in their obedience, was at leisure for any 
enterprise when young Epiphanes came to the throne of 
Egypt; and thinking this too good an opportunity for enlarg- 
ing his dominion to be let slip, he raised an immense army 
" greater than the former" (for he had collected many forces 
and acquired great riches in his eastern expedition), and set 
out against Egypt, expecting to have an easy victory over the 
infant king. How' he succeeded we shall presently see ; for 
here new complications enter into the affairs of these king- 
doms, and new actors are introduced upon the stage of history. 

Verse 14. And in those times there shall many stand up against 
the king of the south : also the robbers of thy people shall exalt them- 
selves to establish the vision; but they shall fall. 

Antiochus was not the only one who rose up against the 
infant Ptolemy. Agathocles, his prime minister, having pos- 
session of the king's person, and conducting the affairs of the 
kingdom in his stead, was so dissolute and proud in the exer- 
cise of his power that the provinces which before were subject 
to Egypt rebelled; Egypt itself was disturbed by seditions; 
and the Alexandrians, rising up against Agathocles, caused 
him, his sister, his mother, and their associates, to be put to 
death. At the same time, Philip, king of ]\Iacedon, entered 
into a league with Antiochus to divide the dominions of Ptol- 
emy between them, each proposing to take the parts which lay 



290 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



nearest and most . convenient to him. Here was a rising np 
against the king of the south sufficient to fulfil the prophecy, 
and the very events, beyond doubt, which the prophecy in- 
tended. 

A new power is now introduced, — " the robbers of thy 
people; " literally, says Bishop Newton, u the breakers of thy 
people." Far away on the banks of the Tiber, a kingdom 
had been nourishing itself with ambitious projects and dark 
designs. Small and weak at first, it grew with marvelous 
rapidity in strength and vigor, reaching out cautiously here 
and there to try its prowess, and test the vigor of its warlike 
arm, till, conscious of its power, it boldly reared its head 
among the nations of the earth, and seized with invincible 
hand the helm of their affairs. Henceforth the name of Rome 
stands upon the historic page, destined for long ages to control 
the affairs of the world, and exert a mighty influence among 
the nations even to the end of time. 

Rome spoke ; and Syria and Macedonia soon found a change 
coining over the aspect of their dream. The Romans interfered 
in behalf of the young king of Egypt, determined that he should 
be protected from the ruin devised by Antiochus and Philip. 
This was b. c. 200, and was one of the first important inter- 
ferences of the Romans in the affairs of Syria and Egypt. Rol- 
lin furnishes the following succinct account of this matter: — 

"Antiochus, king of Syria, and Philip, king of Macedonia, 
during the 'reign of Ptolemy Philopater, had discovered the 
strongest zeal for the interests of that monarch, and were ready 
to assist him on all occasions. Yet no sooner was he dead, 
leaving behind him an infant, whom the laws of humanity and 
justice enjoined them not to disturb in the possession of his 
father's kingdom, than they immediately joined in a criminal 
alliance, and excited each other to shake off the lawful heir, 
and divide his dominions between them. Philip was to have 
Caria, Libya, Cyrenaica, and Egypt; and Antiochus, all the 
rest. With this view, the latter entered Ccele-Syria and Pales- 
tine, and in less than two campaigns made an entire conquest 
of the two provinces, with all their cities and dependencies. 
Their guilt, says Polybius, would not have been quite so glar- 



CHAPTER 11, VERSES lk, 15 



291 



ing, had they, like tyrants, endeavored to gloss over their crimes 
with some specious pretense; but, so far from doing this, their 
injustice and cruelty were so barefaced, that to them was ap- 
plied what is generally said of fishes, that the larger ones, 
though of the same species, prey on the lesser. One would 
be tempted, continues the same author, at seeing the most 
sacred laws of society so openly violated, to accuse Provi- 
dence of being indifferent and insensible to the most horrid 
crimes; but it fully justified its conduct by punishing those 
two kings according to their deserts; and made such an ex- 
ample of them as ought, in all succeeding ages, to deter others 
from following their example. For, while they were medi- 
tating to dispossess a weak and helpless infant of his kingdom 
by piecemeal, Providence raised up the Romans against them, 
who entirely subverted the kingdoms of Philip and Antiochus, 
and reduced their successors to almost as great calamities as 
those with which they intended to crush the infant king." — 
Ancient History, Booh 18, chap. 50. 

" To establish the vision." The Romans being more promi- 
nently than any other people the subject of Daniel's prophecy, 
their first interference in the affairs of these kingdoms is here 
referred to as being the establishment, or demonstration, of 
the truth of the vision which predicted the existence of such 
a power. 

" But they shall fall." Some refer this to those mentioned 
in the first part of the verse, who should stand up against the 
king of the south ; others, to the robbers of Daniel's people, 
the Romans. It is true in either case. If those who combined 
against Ptolemy are referred to, all that need be said is that 
they did speedily fall ; and if it applies to the Romans, the 
prophecy simply looked forward to the period of their over- 
throw. 

Verse 15. So the king- of the north shall come, and cast up a 
mount, and take the most fenced cities: and the arms of the south 
shall not withstand, neither his chosen people, neither shall there 
be any strength to withstand. 

The tuition of the young king of Egypt was entrusted by 
the Roman Senate to M. Emilius Lepidus, who appointed Aris- 



292 PROPHECY OF DANIEL 

tomenes, an old and experienced minister of that court, his 
guardian. His first act was to provide against the threatened 
invasion of the two confederated kings, Philip and Antiochus. 

To this end he despatched Scopas, a famous general of 
zEtoiia, then in the service of the Egyptians, into his native 
country to raise reinforcements for the army. Having 
equipped an army, he marched into Palestine and Coele-Syria 
(Antiochus being engaged in a war with Attalus in Lesser 
Asia), and reduced all Judea into subjection to the authority 
of Egypt. 

Thus affairs were brought into a posture for the fulfil- 
ment of the verse before us. For Antiochus, desisting from 
his war with Attalus at the dictation of the Romans, took 
speedy steps for the recovery of Palestine and Coele-Syria 
from the hands of the Egyptians. Scopas was sent to oppose 
him. Near the sources of the Jordan, the two armies met. 
Scopas was defeated, pursued to Sidon, and there closely be- 
sieged. Three of the ablest generals of Egypt, with their best 
forces, were sent to raise the siege, but without success. At 
length Scopas meeting, in the gaunt and intangible specter of 
famine, a foe with whom he was unable to cope, was forced to 
surrender on the dishonorable terms of life only; whereupon 
he and his ten thousand men were suffered to depart, stripped 
and naked. Here was the taking of the most fenced cities by 
the king of the north; for Sidon was, both in its situation arid 
its defenses, one of the strongest cities of those times. Here 
was the failure of the arms of the south to withstand, and the 
failure also of the people which the king of the south had 
chosen; namely, Scopas and his ^Etolian forces. 

Verse 16. But he that cometh against him shall do according to 
his own will, and none shall stand before him : and he shall stand 
in the glorious land, which by his hand shall be consumed. 

Although Egypt could not stand before Antiochus, the king 
of the north, Antiochus could not stand before the Romans, 
who now came against him. No kingdoms were longer able 
to resist this rising power. Syria was conquered, and added 
to the Roman empire, when Pompey, b. c. 65, deprived Antio- 



CHAPTER 11, VERSE 16 



293 



chus Asiaticus of his possessions, and reduced Syria to a Ro- 
man province. 

The same power was also to stand in the Holy Land, and 
consume it. Rome became connected with the people of God, 
the Jews, by alliance, b. c. 161, from which date it holds a 
prominent place in the prophetic calendar. It did not, how- 
ever, acquire jurisdiction over Judea by actual conquest till 
b. c. 63 ; and then in the following manner. 

On Pompey's return from his expedition against Mithri- 
dates, king of Pontus, two competitors, Hyrcanus and Aristo- 
bulus, were struggling for the crown of Judea. Their cause 
came before Pompey, who soon perceived the injustice of the 
claims of Aristobulus, but wished to defer decision in the mat- 
ter till after his long-desired expedition into Arabia, promis- 
ing then to return, and settle their affairs as should seem just 
and proper. Aristobulus, fathoming Pompey's real sentiments, 
hastened back to Judea, armed his subjects, and prepared for 
a vigorous defense, determined, at all hazards, to keep the 
crown, which he foresaw would be adjudicated to another. 
Pompey closely followed the fugutive. As he approached 
Jerusalem, Aristobulus, beginning to repent of his course, 
came out to meet him, and endeavored to accommodate mat- 
ters by promising entire submission and large sums of money. 
Pompey, accepting this offer, sent Gabinius, at the head of a 
detachment of soldiers, to receive the money. But when that 
lieutenant-general arrived at Jerusalem, he found the gates 
shut against him, and was told from the top of the walls that 
the city would not stand to the agreement. 

Pompey, not to be deceived in this way with impunity, put 
Aristobulus, whom he had retained with him, in irons, and 
immediately marched against Jerusalem with his whole army. 
The partisans of Aristobulus were for defending the place; 
those of Hyrcanus, for opening the gates. The latter being in 
the majority, and prevailing, Pompey was given free entrance 
into the city. Whereupon the adherents of Aristobulus retired 
to the mountain of the temple, as fully determined to defend 
that place as Pompey was to reduce it, At the end of three 
months a breach was made in the wall sufficient for an assault, 
19 



294 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



and the place was carried at the point of the sword. In the 
terrible slaughter that ensued, twelve thousand persons were 
slain. It was an affecting sight, observes the historian, to see 
the priests, engaged at the time in divine service, with calm 
hand and steady purpose pursue their accustomed work, ap- 
parently unconscious of the wild tumult, though all around 
them their friends were given to the slaughter, and though 
often their own blood mingled with that of their sacrifices. 

Having put an end to the war, Pompey demolished the 
walls of Jerusalem, transferred several cities from the juris- 
diction of Judea to that of Syria, and imposed tribute on the 
Jews. Thus for the first time was Jerusalem placed by con- 
quest in the hands of that power which was to hold the " glo- 
rious land " in its iron grasp till it had utterly consumed it. 

Verse 17. He shall also set his face to enter with the strength of 
his whole kingdom, and upright ones with him ; thus shall he do : and 
he shall give him the daughter of women, corrupting her : but she 
shall not stand on his side, neither be for him. 

Bishop Newton furnishes another reading for this verse, 
which seems more clearly to express the sense, as follows: 
" He shall also set his face to enter by force the whole king- 
dom." Yerse 16 brought us down to the conquest of Syria 
and Judea by the Romans. Rome had previously conquered 
Macedon and Thrace. Egypt was now all that remained of 
the " whole kingdom " of Alexander, not brought into sub- 
jection to the Roman power, which power now set its face to 
enter by force into that country. 

Ptolemy Auletes died b. c. 51. He left the crown and 
kingdom of Egypt to his eldest son and daughter, Ptolemy 
and Cleopatra. It was provided in his will that they should 
marry together, and reign jointly ; and because they were 
young, they were placed under the guardianship of the Ro- 
mans. The Roman people accepted the charge, and appointed 
Pompey as guardian of the young heirs of Egypt. 

A quarrel having not long after broken out between Pom- 
pey and Csesar, the famous battle of Pharsalia was fought be- 
tween the two generals. Pompey, being defeated, fled into 



CHAPTER 11, VERSE 17 



295 



Egypt. Caesar immediately followed him thither; but before 
his arrival, Pompey was basely murdered by Ptolemy, whose 
guardian he had been appointed. Caesar therefore assumed 
the appointment which had been given to Pompey, as guardian 
of Ptolemy and Cleopatra. He found Egypt in commotion 
from intestine disturbances, Ptolemy and Cleopatra having be- 
come hostile to each other, and she being deprived of her share 
in the government. Notwithstanding this, he did not hesitate 
to land at Alexandria with his small force, 800 horse and 3200 
foot, take cognizance of the quarrel, and undertake its settle- 
ment. The troubles daily* increasing, Csesar found his small 
force insufficient to maintain his position, and being unable to 
leave Egypt on account of the north wind which blew at that 
season, he sent into Asia, ordering all the troops he had in 
that quarter to come to his assistance as soon as possible. 

In the most haughty manner he decreed that Ptolemy and 
Cleopatra should disband their armies, appear before him for 
a settlement of their differences, and abide by his decision. 
Egypt being an independent kingdom, this haughty decree 
was considered an affront to its royal dignity, at which the 
Egyptians, highly incensed, flew to arms. Csesar replied that 
he acted by virtue of the will of their father, Auletes, who 
had put his children under the guardianship of the senate and 
people of Rome, the whole authority of which was now vested 
in his person as consul; and that, as guardian, he had the 
right to arbitrate between them. 

The matter was finally brought before him, and advocates 
appointed to plead the cause of the respective parties. Cleo- 
patra, aware of the foible of the great Roman conqueror, 
judged that the beauty of her presence would be more effectual 
in securing judgment in her favor than any advocate she could 
employ. To reach his presence undetected, she had recourse 
to the following stratagem : Laying herself at full length in 
a bundle of clothes, Apollodorus, her Sicilian servant, wrapped 
it up in a cloth, tied it with a thong, and raising it upon his 
Herculean shoulders, sought the apartments of Csesar. Claim- 
ing to have a present for the Roman general, he was admitted 
through the gate of the citadel, entered into the presence of 



296 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



Caesar, and deposited the burden at his feet. When Caesar 
had unbound this animated bundle, lo ! the beautiful Cleopatra 
stood before him. He was far from being displeased with the 
.stratagem, and being of a character described in 2 Peter 2 : 
14, the first sight of so beautiful a person, says Pollin, had 
all the effect upon him she had desired. 

Caesar at length decreed that the brother and sister should 
occupy the throne jointly, according to the intent of the will. 
Pothinus, the chief minister of state, having been principally 
instrumental in expelling Cleopatra from the throne, feared 
the result of her restoration. He therefore began to excite 
jealousy and hostility against Caesar, by insinuating among the 
populace that he designed eventually to give Cleopatra the sole 
power. Open sedition soon followed. Achillas, at the head of 
20,000 men, advanced to drive Caesar from Alexandria. Skil- 
fully disposing his small body of men in the streets and alleys 
of the city, Caesar found no difficulty in repelling the attack. 
The Egyptians undertook to destroy his fleet. He retorted by 
burning theirs. Some of the burning vessels being driven near 
the quay, several of the buildings of the city took fire, and the 
famous Alexandrian library, containing nearly 400,000 vol- 
umes, was destroyed. 

The war growing more threatening, Caesar sent into all the 
neighboring countries for help. A large fleet came from Asia 
Minor to his assistance. Mithridates set out for Egypt with 
an army raised in Syria and Cilicia. Antipater the Idumean 
joined him with 3,000 Jews. The Jeivs, who held the passes 
into Egypt, permitted the army to pass on without interruption. 
Without this co-ojDeration on their part, the whole plan must 
have failed. The arrival of this army decided the contest. A 
decisive battle was fought near the Xile, resulting in a com- 
plete victory for Caesar. Ptolemy, attempting to escape, was 
drowned in the river. Alexandria and all Egypt then sub- 
mitted to the victor. Rome had now entered into and absorbed 
the whole of the original kingdom of Alexander. 

By the " upright ones " of the text are doubtless meant the 
Jews, who gave him the assistance already mentioned. With- 




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CHAPTER 11, VERSES 17 - 19 



299 



out this, he must have failed; with it, he completely subdued 
Egypt to his power, b. c. 47. 

" The daughter of women, corrupting her." The passion 
which Caesar had conceived for Cleopatra, by whom he had 
one son, is assigned by the historian as the sole reason of his 
undertaking so dangerous a campaign as the Egyptian war. 
This kept him much longer in Egypt than his affairs required, 
he spending whole nights in feasting and carousing with the 
dissolute queen. " But," said the prophet, " she shall not 
stand on his side, neither be for him." Cleopatra afterward 
joined herself to Antony, the enemy of Augustus Caesar, and 
exerted her whole power against Rome. 

Verse 18. After this shall he turn his face unto the isles, and 
shall take many: but a prince for his own behalf shall cause the re- 
proach offered by him to cease; without his own reproach he shall 
cause it to turn upon him. 

War with Pharnaces, king of the Cimmerian Bosphorus, at 
length drew him away from Egypt. " On his arrival where 
the enemy was," says Prideaux, " he, without giving any res- 
pite either to himself or them, immediately fell on, and gained 
an absolute victory over them; an account whereof he wrote 
to a friend of his in these three words : Veni, vidi, vici; I 
came, ' I saw, I conquered." The latter part of this verse is 
involved in some obscurity, and there is difference of opinion 
in regard to its application. Some apply it further back in 
Caesar's life, and think they find a fulfilment in his quarrel 
with Pompey. But preceding and subsequent events clearly 
defined in the prophecy, compel us to look for the fulfilment 
of this part of the prediction between the victory over Phar- 
naces, and Caesar's death at Borne, as brought to view in the 
following verse. A more full history of this period might 
bring to light events which would render the application of this 
passage unembarrassed. 

Verse 19. Then he shall turn his face toward the fort of his own 
land : but he shall stumble and fall, and not be found. 

After this conquest, Caesar defeated the last remaining frag- 
ments of Pompey's party, Cato and Scipio in Africa, and La- 



300 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



bienus and Varus in Spain. Returning to Rome, the " fort of 
his own land/' he was made perpetual dictator ; and -such other 
powers and honors were granted him as rendered him in fact 
absolute sovereign of the whole empire. But the prophet had 
said that he should stumble and fall. The language implies 
that his overthrow would be sudden and unexpected, like a 
person accidentally stumbling in his walk. And so this man, 
who had fought and won five hundred battles, taken one thou- 
sand cities, and slain one million one hundred and ninety-two 
thousand men, fell, not in the din of battle and the hour of 
strife, but when he thought his pathway was smooth and 
strewn with flowers, and when danger was supposed to be far 
away; for, taking his seat in the senate chamber upon his 
throne of gold, to receive at the hands of that body the title 
of king, the dagger of treachery suddenly struck him to the 
heart. Cassius, Brutus, and other conspirators rushed upon 
him, and he fell, pierced with twenty-three wounds. Thus 
he suddenly stumbled and fell, and was not found, b. c. 44. 

Verse 20. Then shall stand up in his estate a raiser of taxes in 
the glory of the kingdom : but within few days he shall be destroyed, 
neither in anger, nor in battle. 

Augustus Csesar succeeded his uncle, Julius, by whom he 
had been adopted as his successor. He publicly announced 
his adoption by his uncle, and took his name, to which he 
added that of Octavianus. Combining with Mark Antony 
and Lepidus to avenge the death of Csesar, they formed what 
is called the triumvirate form of government. Having sub- 
sequently firmly established himself in the empire, the senate 
conferred upon him the title of Augustus, and the other mem- 
bers of the triumvirate being now dead, he became supreme 
ruler. 

He was emphatically a raiser of taxes. Luke, in speaking 
of the events that transpired at the time when Christ was born, 
says: "And it came to pass in those days, that there went 
out a decree from Csesar Augustus, that all the world should 
be taxed." Luke 2 : 1. That taxing which embraced all the 
world was an event worthy of notice; and the person who 



CHAPTER 11, VERSES 20, 21 



301 



enforced it has certainly a claim to the title of " a raiser of 
taxes " above every other competitor. 

The St. Louis Globe Democrat , as quoted in Current Lit- 
erature for July, 1895, says: "Augustus Cgesar was not the 
public benefactor he is represented. He was the most exact- 
ing tax collector the Roman world had up to that time ever 
seen." 

And he stood up " in the glory of the kingdom." Rome 
reached in his days the pinnacle of its greatness and power. 
The "Augustan Age " is an expression everywhere used to de- 
note the golden age of Roman history. Rome never saw a 
brighter hour. Peace was promoted, justice maintained, lux- 
ury curbed, discipline established, and learning encouraged. 
In his reign, the temple of Janus was for the third time shut 
since the foundation of Rome, signifying that all the world was 
at peace; and at this auspicious hour our Lord was born in 
Bethlehem of Judea. In a little less than eighteen years after 
the taxing brought to view, seeming but a " few days " to the 
distant gaze of the prophet, Augustus died, not in anger nor in 
battle, but peacefully in his bed, at Nola, whither he had gone 
to seek repose and health, a. d. 14, in the seventy-sixth year 
of his age. 

Verse 21. And in his estate shall stand np a vile person, to whom 
they shall not give the honor of the kingdom: but he shall come in 
peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries. 

Tiberius Csosar next appeared after Augustus Csesar on the 
Roman throne. He was raised to the consulate in his twenty- 
eighth year. It is recorded that as Augustus was about to 
nominate his successor, his wife, Livia, besought him to nomi- 
nate Tiberius (her son by a former husband) ; but the emperor 
said, " Your son is too vile to wear the purple of Rome ; " and 
the nomination was given to Agrippa, a very virtuous and 
much-respected Roman citizen. But the prophecy had fore- 
seen that a vile person should succeed Augustus. Agrippa 
died; and Augustus was again under the necessity of choosing 
a successor. Livia renewed her intercessions for Tiberius ; and 
Augustus, weakened by age and sickness, was more easily 



302 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



flattered, and finally consented to nominate, as his colleague 
and successor, that " vile " young man. But the citizens 
never gave him the love, respect, and " honor of the king- 
dom " due to an upright and faithful sovereign. 

How clear a fulfilment is this of the prediction that they 
should not give him the honor of the kingdom. But he was to 
come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries. A 
paragraph from the Encyclopedia Americana shows how this 
was fulfilled: — 

" During the remainder of the life of Augustus, he [Tibe- 
rius] behaved with great prudence and ability, concluding a 
war with the Germans in such a manner as to merit a tri- 
umph. After the defeat of Varus and his legions, he was sent 
to check the progress of the victorious Germans, and acted in 
that war with equal spirit and prudence. On the death of 
Augustus, he succeeded, without opposition, to the sovereignty 
of the empire ; which, however, with his characteristic dissimu- 
lation, he affected to decline, until repeatedly solicited by the 
servile senate." 

Dissimulation on his part, flattery on the part of the servile 
senate, and a possession of the kingdom without opposition — 
such were the circumstances attending his accession to the 
throne, and such were the circumstances for which the proph- 
Qcy called. 

The person brought to view in the text is called " a vile 
person." Was such the character sustained by Tiberius ? Let 
another paragraph from the Encyclopedia answer: — 

" Tacitus records the events of this reign, including the 
suspicious death of Germanicus, the detestable administration 
of Sejanus, the poisoning of Drusus, with all the extraordinary 
mixture of tyranny with occasional wisdom and good sense 
which distinguished the conduct of Tiberius, until his infamous 
and dissolute retirement, a. d. 26, to the isle of Caprea?, in the, 
bay of Naples, never to return to Rome. On the death of 
Livia, a. d. 29, the only restraint upon his actions and those 
of the detestable Sejanus, was removed, and the destruction of 
the widow and family of Germanicus followed. At length the 
infamous favorite extended his views to the empire itself, and 



CHAPTER 11, VERSES 21, 22 



303 



Tiberius, informed of his machinations, prepared to encounter 
him with his favorite weapon, dissimulation. Although fully 
resolved upon his destruction, he accumulated honors upon him, 
declared him his partner in the consulate, and, after long play- 
ing with his credulity, and that of the senate, who thought him 
in greater favor than ever, he artfully prepared for his arrest. 
Sejanus fell deservedly and unpitied; but many innocent per- 
sons shared in his destruction, in consequence of the suspicion 
and cruelty of Tiberius, which now exceeded all limits. The 
remainder of the reign of this tyrant is little more than a dis- 
gusting narrative of servility on the one hand, and of despotic 
ferocity on the other. That he himself endured as much mis- 
ery as he inflicted, is evident from the following commence- 
ment of one of his letters to the senate : ' W Tiat I shall write 
to you, conscript fathers, or what I shall not write, or why I 
should write at all, may the gods and goddesses plague me 
more than I feel daily that they are doing, if I can tell.' 
' What mental torture/ observes Tacitus, in reference to this 
passage, ' which could extort such a confession ! ' " 

" Seneca remarks of Tiberius that he was never intoxicated 
but once in his life; for he continued in a state of perpetual 
intoxication from the time he gave himself to drinking, to the 
last moment of his life." 

Tyranny, hypocrisy, debauchery, and uninterrupted intoxi- 
cation — if these traits and practices show a man to be vile, 
Tiberius exhibited that character in disgusting perfection. 

Verse 22. And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown 
from before him, and shall be broken; yea, also the prince of the 
covenant. 

Bishop Newton presents the following reading as agreeing 
better with the original: "And the arms of the overflows 
shall be overflown from before him, and shall be broken." 
The expressions signify revolution and violence ; and in fulfil- 
ment we should look for the arms of Tiberius, the overflower, 
to be overflown, or, in other words, for him to suffer a violent 
death. . To show how this was accomplished, we again have 
recourse to the Encyclopedia Americana, art. Tiberius: — 



304 PROPHECY OF DANIEL 

" Acting the hypocrite to the last, he disguised his increas- 
ing debility as much as he was able, even affecting to join in 
the sports and exercises of the soldiers of his guard. At 
length, leaving his favorite island, the scene of the most dis- 
gusting debaucheries, he stopped at a country house near the 
promontory of Micenum, where, on the 16th of March, 37, he 
sunk into a lethargy, in which he appeared dead ; and Caligula 
was preparing with a numerous escort to take possession of the 
empire, when his sudden revival threw them into consterna- 
tion. At this critical instant, Macro, the pretorian prefect, 
caused him to be suffocated ivith pillows.- Thus expired the 
emperor Tiberius, in the seventy-eighth year of his age, and 
twenty- third of his reign, universally execrated." 

" The prince of the covenant " unquestionably refers to 
J esus Christ, " the Messiah the Prince," who was to u con- 
firm the covenant " one week with his people. Dan. 9 : 25 - 
27. The prophet, having taken us down to the death of Ti- 
berius, now mentions incidentally an event to transpire in his 
reign, so important that it should not be passed over; namely, 
the cutting off of the Prince of the covenant, or, in other 
words, the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. /According to the 
prophecy, this took place in the reign of Tiberius. Luke 
informs us (3:1-3) that in the fifteenth year of the reign of 
Tiberius Caesar, John the Baptist commenced his ministry. 
The reign of Tiberius is to be reckoned, according to Prideaux, 
Dr. Hales, Lardner, and others, from his elevation to the 
throne to reign jointly with Augustus, his step-father, in Au- 
gust, a. d. 12. His fifteenth year would therefore be from 
August, a. d. 26, to August, a. d. 27. Christ was six months 
younger than John, and is supposed to have commenced his 
ministry six months later, both, according to the law of the 
priesthood, entering upon their work when they were thirty 
years of age. If John commenced in the spring, in the latter 
portion of Tiberius's fifteenth year, it would bring the com- 
mencement of Christ's ministry in the autumn of a. d. 27 ; 
and right here the best authorities place the baptism of Christ, 
it being the exact point where the 483 years from b. c. 457, 
which were to extend to the Messiah the Prince, terminated; 



CHAPTER 11, VERSES 22, 23 



305 



and Christ went forth proclaiming that the time was fulfilled. 
.From this point we go forward three years and a half to find 
the date of the crucifixion; for Christ attended but four Pass- 
overs, and was crucified at the last one. Three and a half 
years from the autumn of a. d. 27 brings us to the spring of 
a. d. 31. The death of Tiberius is placed but six years later, 
in a. d. 37. (See on chapter 9 : 25 - 27.) 

Verse 23. And after the league, made with him he shall work de- 
ceitfully : for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small 
people. 

The " him " with whom the league here spoken of is made, 
must be the same power which has been the subject of the 
prophecy from the 14th verse; and that this is the Roman 
power is* shown beyond controversy in the fulfilment of the 
prophecy in three individuals, as already noticed, who succes- 
sively ruled over the Roman empire ; namely, Julius, Augus- 
tus, and Tiberius Csesar. The first, on returning to the fort of 
his own land in triumph, stumbled and fell, and was not found. 
Verse 19. The second was a raiser of taxes; and he reigned 
in the glory of the kingdom, and died neither in anger nor in 
battle, but peacefully in his own bed. Verse 20. The third 
was a dissembler, and one of the vilest of characters. He 
entered upon the kingdom peaceably, but both his reign and 
life were ended by violence. And in his reign the Prince of 
the covenant, Jesus of ^Nazareth, was put to death upon the 
cross. Verses 21, 22. Christ can never be broken or put to 
death again; hence in no other government, and at no other 
time, can we find a fulfilment . of these events. Some attempt 
to apply these verses to Antiochus, and make one of the Jew- 
ish high priests the prince of the covenant, though they are 
never called such. This is the same kind of reasoning which 
endeavors to make the reign of Antiochus a fulfilment of the 
little horn of Daniel 8 ; and it is offered for the same purpose ; 
namely, to break the great chain of evidence by which it is 
shown' that the Advent doctrine is the doctrine of the Bible, 
and that Christ is now at the door. But the evidence cannot 
be overthrown; the chain cannot be broken. 



306 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



Having taken us down through the secular events of the 
empire to the end of the seventy weeks, the prophet, in verse 
23, takes us back to the time when the Romans became directly 
connected with the people of God by the Jewish league, b. c. 
161; from which point we are then taken down in a direct 
line of events to the final triumph of the church, and the set- 
ting up of God's everlasting kingdom. The Jews, being griev- 
ously oppressed by the Syrian kings, sent an embassy to Rome, 
to solicit the aid of the Romans, and to join themselves in " a 
league of amity and confederacy with them." 1 Mac. 8 ; 
Prideaux, II, 234; Josephus's Antiquities, book 12, chap. 10, 
sec. 6. The Romans listened to the request of the Jews, and 
granted them a decree, couched in these words : — 

" The decree of the senate concerning a league of assistance 
and friendship with the nation of the Jews. It shall not be 
lawful for any that are subject to the Romans, to make war 
with the nation of the Jews, nor to assist those that do so, 
either by sending them corn, or ships, or money; and if any 
attack be made upon the Jews, the Romans shall assist them 
as far as they are able ; and again, if any attack be made upon 
the Romans, the Jews shall assist them. And if the Jews 
have a mind to add to, or to take from, this league of assist- 
ance, that shall be done with the common consent of the Ro- 
mans. And whatever addition shall thus be made, it shall be 
of force." " This decree," says Josephus, " was written by 
Eupolemus, the son of John, and by Jason, the son of Eleazer, 
when Judas was high priest of the nation, and Simon, his 
brother, was general of the army. And this was the first 
league that the Romans made with the Jews, and was man- 
aged after this manner." 

At this time the Romans were a small people, and began to 
work deceitfully, or with cunning, as the word signifies. And 
from this point they rose by a steady and rapid ascent to the 
height of power which they afterward attained. 

Verse 24. He shall enter peacefully even "upon the fattest places 
of the province ; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, 
nor his fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and 
spoil, and riches : yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the 
strongholds, even for a time. 



CHAPTER 11, VERSES 2k, 25 



309 



The usual manner in which nations had, before the days of 
Rome, entered upon valuable provinces and rich territory, was 
by war and conquest. Rome was now to do what had not 
been done by the fathers or the fathers' fathers; namely, re- 
ceive these acquisitions through peaceful means. The custom, 
before unheard of, was now inaugurated, of kings' leaving by 
legacy their kingdoms to the Romans. Rome came into pos- 
session of large provinces in this manner. 

And those who thus came under the dominion of Rome de- 
rived no small advantage therefrom. They were treated with 
kindness and leniency. It was like having the prey and spoil 
distributed among them. They were protected from their ene- 
mies, and rested in peace and safety under the aegis of the 
Roman power. 

To the latter portion of this verse, Bishop Newton gives the 
idea of forecasting devices from strongholds, instead of against 
them. This the Romans did from the strong fortress of their 
seven-hilled city. " Even for a time ; " doubtless a prophetic 
time, 360 years. From what point are these years to be 
dated ? Probably from the event brought to view in the fol- 
lowing verse. 

Verse 25. And he shall stir up his power and his courage against 
the king of the south with a great army; and the king of the south 
shall be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army; but 
he shall not stand : for they shall forecast devices against him. 

By verses 23 and 24 we are brought down this side of the 
league between the Jews and the Romans, b. c. 161, to the 
time when Rome had acquired universal dominion. The verse 
now before us brings to view a vigorous campaign against the 
king of the south, Egypt, and the occurrence of a notable battle 
between great and mighty armies. Did such events as these 
transpire in the history of Rome about this time ? — They did. 
The war was the war between Egypt and Rome ; and the battle 
was the battle of Actium. Let us take a brief view of the cir- 
cumstances that led to this conflict. 

Mark Antony, Augustus Caesar, and Lepidus constituted 
the triumvirate which had sworn to avenge the death of Julius 
Caesar. This Antony became the brother-in-law of Augustus 
20 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



by marrying his sister, Octavia. Antony was sent into Egypt 
on government business, but fell a victim to the arts and 
charms of Cleopatra, Egypt's dissolute queen. So strong was 
the passion he conceived for her, that he finally espoused the 
Egyptian interests, rejected his wife, Octavia, to please Cleo- 
patra, bestowed province after province upon the latter to grat- 
ify her avarice, celebrated a triumph at Alexandria instead 
of Rome, and otherwise so affronted the Roman people that 
Augustus had no difficulty in leading them to engage heartily 
in a war against this enemy of their country. This war was 
ostensibly against Egypt and Cleopatra; but it was really 
against Antony, who now stood at the head of Egyptian af- 
fairs. And the true cause of their controversy was, says 
Prideaux, that neither of them could be content with only half 
of the Roman empire ; for Lepidus having been deposed from 
the triumvirate, it now lay between them, and each being 
determined to possess the whole, they cast the die of war for 
its possession. 

Antony assembled his fleet at Samos. Five hundred ships 
of war, of extraordinary size and structure, having several 
decks one above another, with towers upon the head and stern, 
made an imposing and formidable array. These ships carried 
two hundred thousand foot, and twelve thousand horse. The 
kings of Libya, Cilicia, Cappadocia, Paphlagonia, Comagena, 
and Thrace, were there in person ; and those of Pontus, J udea, 
Lycaonia, Galatia, and Media, had sent their troops. A more 
splendid and gorgeous military spectacle than this fleet of bat- 
tle ships, as they spread their sails, and moved out upon the 
bosom of the sea, the world has rarely seen. Surpassing all 
in magnificence came the galley of Cleopatra, floating like a 
palace of gold beneath a cloud of purple sails. Its flags and 
streamers fluttered in the wind, and trumpets and other instru- 
ments of war made the heavens resound with notes of joy and 
triumph. Antony followed close after in a galley of almost 
equal magnificence. And the giddy queen, intoxicated with 
the sight of the warlike array, short-sighted and vainglorious, 
at the head of her infamous troop of eunuchs, foolishly threat- 
ened the Roman capital with approaching ruin. 



CHAPTER 11, VERSE 25 



311 



Caesar Augustus, on the other hand, displayed less pomp 
but more utility. He had but half as many ships as Antony, 
and only eighty thousand foot. But all his troops were chosen 
men, and on board his fleet were none but experienced seamen ; 
whereas Antony, not finding mariners sufficient, had been 
obliged to man his vessels with artisans of every class, men 
inexperienced, and better calculated to cause trouble than to 
do real service in time of battle. The season being far con- 
sumed in these preparations, Caesar made his rendezvous at 
Brundusium, and Antony at Corcyra,. till the following year. 

As soon as the season permitted, both armies were put in 
motion on both land and sea. The fleets at length entered the 
Ambracian Gulf in Epirus, and the land forces were drawn up 
on either shore in plain view. Antony's most experienced 
generals advised him not to hazard a battle by sea with his 
inexperienced mariners, but send Cleopatra back to Egypt, 
and hasten at once into Thrace or Macedonia, and trust the 
issue to his land forces, who were composed of veteran troops. 
But he, illustrating the old adage, Quern Deus vult perdere, 
prius denlentat (whom God wishes to destroy, he first makes 
mad), infatuated by Cleopatra, seemed only desirous of pleas- 
ing her; and she, trusting to appearances only, deemed her 
fleet invincible, and advised immediate action. 

The battle was fought Sept. 2, b. c. 31, at the mouth of 
the gulf of Ambracia, near the city of Actium. The world 
was the stake for which these stern warriors, Antony and 
Caesar, now played. The contest, long doubtful, was at length 
decided by the course which Cleopatra pursued ; for she, fright- 
ened at the din of battle, took to flight when there was no 
danger, and drew after her the whole Egyptian fleet. Antony, 
beholding this movement, and lost to everything but his blind 
passion for her, precipitately followed, and yielded a victory 
to Caesar, which, had his Egyptian forces proved true to him, 
and had he proved true to his own manhood, he might have 
gained. 

This battle doubtless marks the commencement of the 
" time " mentioned in verse 24. And as during this " time " 
devices were to be forecast from the stronghold, or Eome, Ave 



312 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



should conclude that at the end of that period western suprem- 
acy would cease, or such a change take place in the empire 
that that city would no longer be considered the seat of gov- 
ernment. From b. c. 31, a prophetic time, or 360 years, 
would bring us to a. d. 330. And it hence becomes a note- 
worthy fact that the seat of empire was removed from Rome 
to Constantinople by Constantine the Great in that very year. 
(See Encyclopedia Americana, art. Constantinople.) 

Verse 26. Yea, they that feed of the portion of his meat shall 
destroy him, and his army shall overflow: and many shall fall down 
slain. 

The cause of Antony's overthrow was the desertion of his 
allies and friends, those that fed of the portion of his meat. 
First, Cleopatra, as already described, suddenly withdrew from 
the battle, taking sixty ships of the line with her. Secondly, 
the land army, disgusted with the infatuation of Antony, went 
over to Caesar, who received them with open arms. Thirdly, 
when Antony arrived at Libya, he found that the forces which 
he had there left under Scarpus to guard the frontier, had de- 
clared for Caesar. Fourthly, being followed by Caesar into 
Egypt, he was betrayed by Cleopatra, and his forces sur- 
rendered to Csesar. Hereupon, in rage and despair, he took 
his own life. 

Verse 27. And both these kings' hearts shall be to do mischief, 
and they shall speak lies at one table; but it shall not prosper: for 
yet the end shall be at the time appointed. 

Antony and Caesar were formerly in alliance. Yet under 
the garb of friendship, they were both aspiring and intriguing 
for universal dominion. Their protestations of deference to, 
and friendship for, each other, were the utterances of hypo- 
crites. They spoke lies at one table. Octavia, the wife of 
Antony and sister of Csesar, declared to the people of Rome 
at the time Antony divorced her, that she had consented to 
marry him solely with the hope that it would prove a pledge 
of union between Caesar and Antony. But that counsel did 
not prosper. The rupture came ; and in the conflict that en- 
sued, Caesar came off entirely victorious, 



CHAPTER 11, VERSE 28 



315 



Verse 28. Then shall he return into his land with great riches: 
and his heart shall be against the holy covenant; and he shall do 
exploits, and return to his own land. 

Two returnings from foreign conquest are here brought to 
view; the first, after the events narrated in verses 26, 27; 
and the second, after this power had had indignation against 
the holy covenant, and had performed exploits. The first was 
fulfilled in the return of Csesar after his expedition against 
Egypt and Antony. He returned to Rome with abundant 
honor and riches; for, says Prideaux (II, 556), "At this time 
such vast riches were brought to Rome from Egypt on the re- 
ducing of that country, and the return of Octavianus [Csesar] 
and his army from thence, that the value of money fell one 
half, and the prices of provisions and all vendible wares was 
doubled thereon." Csesar celebrated his victories in a three- 
days' triumph, — a triumph which Cleopatra herself would 
have graced, as one of the royal captives, had she not art- 
fully caused herself to be bitten by the fatal asp. 

The next great enterprise of the Romans after the over- 
throw of Egypt, was the expedition against Judea, and the 
capture and destruction of Jerusalem. The holy covenant is 
doubtless the covenant which God has maintained with his 
people, under different forms, in different ages of the w T orld, 
that is, with all believers in him. The Jews rejected Christ ; 
and, according to the prophecy that all who would not hear 
that prophet should be cut off, they were destroyed out of 
their own land, and scattered to every nation under heaven. 
And wdiile Jcavs and Christians alike -suffered under the op- 
pressive hands of the Romans, it was doubtless in the reduc- 
tion of Judea especially, that the exploits mentioned in the 
text were • exhibited. 

Under Vespasian the Romans invaded Judea, and took the 
cities of Galilee, Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, where 
Christ had been rejected. They destroyed the inhabitants, 
and left nothing but ruin and desolation. Titus besieged Je- 
rusalem. He drew a trench around it, according to the pre- 
diction of the Saviour. A terrible famine ensued, the equal 
of which the world has, perhaps, at no other time witnessed. 



316 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



Moses had predicted that in the terrible calamities to come 
upon the Jews if they departed from God, even the tender 
and delicate woman should eat her own children in the strait- 
ness of the siege wherewith their enemies should distress them. 
Under the siege of Jerusalem by Titus, a literal fulfilment 
of this prediction occurred; and he, hearing of the inhuman 
deed, but forgetting that he was the one who was driving them 
to such direful extremities, swore the eternal extirpation of 
the accursed city and people. 

Jerusalem fell in a. d. 70. As an honor to himself, the 
Roman commander had determined to save the temple; but 
the Lord had said that there should not remain one stone upon 
another which should not be thrown down. A Roman soldier 
seized a brand of fire, and, climbing upon the shoulders of his 
comrades, thrust it into one of the windows of the beautitful 
structure. It was soon in the arms of the devouring element. 
The frantic efforts of the Jews to extinguish the flames were 
seconded by Titus himself, but all in vain. Seeing that the 
temple must perish, Titus rushed in, and bore away the golden 
candlestick, the table of show-bread, and the volume of the 
law, wrapped in golden tissue. The candlestick was afterward 
deposited in Vespasian's Temple of Peace, and copied on the 
triumphal arch of Titus, where its mutilated image is yet to 
be seen. 

The siege of Jerusalem lasted five months. In that siege 
eleven hundred thousand Jews perished, and ninety-seven thou- 
sand were taken prisoners. The city was so amazingly strong 
that Titus exclaimed, when viewing the ruins, " We have fought 
with the assistance of God ; " but it was completely leveled, 
and the foundations of the temple were plowed up by Taren- 
tius Rufus. The duration of the whole war was seven years, 
and one million four hundred and sixty-two thousand (1,462,- 
000) persons are said to have fallen victims to its awful horrors. 

Thus this power performed great exploits, and again re- 
turned to his own land. 

Verse 29. At the time appointed he shall return, and come toward 
the south; but it shall not be as the former, or as the latter. 



CHAPTER 11, VERSES 29, SO 



317 



The time appointed is probably the prophetic time of verse 
24, which has been previously mentioned. It closed, as al- 
ready shown, in a. d. 330, at which time this power was to 
return and come again toward the south, but not as on the 
former occasion, when it went to Egypt, nor as the latter, 
when it went to Judea. Those were expeditions which re- 
sulted in conquest and glory. This one led to demoralization 
and ruin. The removal of the seat of empire to Constanti- 
nople was the signal for the downfall of the empire. Rome 
then lost its prestige. The western division was exposed to 
the incursions of foreign enemies. On the death of Constan- 
tine, the Roman empire was divided into three parts, between 
his three sons, Constantius, Constantine II, and Constans. 
Constantine II and Constans quarreled, and Constans, being 
victor, gained the supremacy of the whole West. ' He was 
soon slain by one of his commanders, who, in turn, was shortly 
after defeated by the surviving emperor, and in despair ended 
his own days, a. d. 353. The barbarians of the North now 
began their incursions, and extended their conquests till the 
imperial power of the West expired in a. d. 476. 

This was indeed different from the two former movements 
brought to view in the prophecy; and to this the fatal step 
of removing the seat of empire from Rome to Constantinople 
directly led. 

Verse 30. For the ships of Chittim shall come against him: 
therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation 
against the holy covenant: so shall he do; he shall even return, and 
have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant. 

The prophetic narrative still has reference to the power 
which has been the subject of the prophecy from the sixteenth 
verse; namely, Rome. What were the ships of Chittim that 
came against this power, and when was this movement made ? 
What country or power is meant by Chittim ? Dr. A. Clarke, 
on Isa. 23 : 1, has this note : " From the land of Chittim it is 
revealed to them. The news of the destruction of Tyre by 
Nebuchadnezzar is said to be brought to them from Chittim, 
the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean; for the Tyrians, 
says Jerome, on verse 6, when they saw they had no other 



318 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



means of escape, fled in their ships, and took refuge in Car- 
thage, and in the islands of the Ionian and iEgean Seas. So 
also Jochri on the same place." Kitto gives the same locality 
to Chittim ; namely, the coast and islands of the Mediterranean ; 
and the mind is carried by the testimony of Jerome to a definite 
and celebrated city situated in that land; that is, Carthage. 

Was ever a naval warfare with Carthage as a base of 
operations, waged against the Roman empire ? We have but 
to think of the terrible onslaught of the Vandals upon Rome 
under the fierce Genseric, to answer readily in the affirmative. 
Sallying every spring from the port of Carthage at the head 
of his numerous and well-disciplined naval forces, he spread 
consternation through all the maritime provinces of the empire. 
That this is the work brought to view is further evident when 
we consider that we are brought down in the prophecy to this 
very time. In verse 29, the transfer of empire to Constan- 
tinople we understood to be mentioned. Following in due 
course of time, as the next remarkable revolution, came the 
irruptions of the barbarians of the North, prominent among 
which was the Vandal war already mentioned. The years 
a. d. 428 - 468 mark the career of Genseric. 

" He shall be grieved and return." This may have refer- 
ence to the desperate efforts which were made to dispossess 
Genseric of the sovereignty of the seas, the first by Majorian, 
the second by Leo, both of which proved to be utter failures; 
and Rome was obliged to submit to the humiliation of seeing 
its provinces ravaged, and its " eternal city" pillaged by the 
enemy. (See on Rev. 8:8.) 

" Indignation against the covenant ; " that is, the Holy 
Scriptures, the book of the covenant. A revolution of this 
nature was accomplished in Rome. The Heruli, Goths, and 
Vandals, who conquered Rome, embraced the Arian faith, and 
became enemies of the Catholic Church. It was especially for 
the purpose of exterminating this heresy that Justinian decreed 
the pope to be the head of the church and the corrector of 
heretics. The Bible soon came to be regarded as a dangerous 
book that should not be read by the common people, but all 
questions in dispute were to be submitted to the pope. Thus 



CHAPTER 11, VERSES SO, SI 



319 



was indignity heaped npon God's word. And the emperors of 
Rome, the eastern division of which still continued, had intelli- 
gence, or connived with the Church of Rome, which had for- 
saken the covenant, and constituted the great apostasy, for the 
purpose of putting down " heresy." The man of sin was 
raised to his presumptuous throne by the defeat of the Arian 
Goths, who then held possession of Rome, in a. d. 538. 

Verse 31. And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute 
the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and 
they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate. 

The power of the empire was committed to the carrying on 
of the work before mentioned. ''And they shall pollute the 
sanctuary of strength," or Rome. If this applies to the bar- 
barians, it was literally fulfilled ; for Rome was sacked by the 
Goths and Vandals, and the imperial power of the West ceased 
through the conquest of Rome by Odoacer. Or if it refers 
to those rulers of the empire who were working in behalf of 
the papacy against the pagan and all other opposing religions, 
it would signify the removal of the seat of empire from Rome 
to Constantinople, which contributed its measure of influence 
to the downfall of Rome. The passage would then be parallel 
to Dan. 8: 11 and Rev. 13 : 2. 

"And they shall take away the daily sacrifice." It was 
shown, on Dan. S : 13, that sacrifice is a word erroneously 
supplied; that it should be desolation; and that the expression 
denotes a desolating power, of which the abomination of deso- 
lation is but the counterpart, and to which it succeeds in point 
of time. The " daily " desolation was paganism, the " abomi- 
nation of desolation " is the papacy. But it may be asked how 
this can be the papacy; since Christ spoke of it in connection 
with the destruction of Jerusalem. And the answer is, Christ 
evidently referred to the ninth of Daniel, which is a prediction 
of the destruction of Jerusalem, and not to this verse of chap- 
ter 11, which does not refer to that event. Daniel, in the ninth 
chapter, speaks of desolations and abominations, plural. More 
than one abomination, therefore, treads down the church ; that 
is ? so far as the church is concerned, both paganism and the 



320 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



papacy are abominations. But as distinguished from each 
other, the language is restricted, and one is the " daily " deso- 
lation, and the other is pre-eminently the transgression or 
" abomination " of desolation. 

How was the daily, or paganism, taken away ? As this is 
spoken of in connection with the placing or setting up of the 
abomination of desolation, or the papacy, it must denote, not 
merely the nominal change of the religion of the empire from 
paganism to Christianity, as on the conversion, so-called, of 
Constantine, but such an eradication of paganism from all the 
elements of the empire, that the way would be all open for the 
papal abomination to arise and assert its arrogant claims. 
Such a revolution as this, plainly denned, was accomplished; 
but not for nearly two hundred years after the death of Con- 
stantine. 

As we approach the year a. d. 508, we behold a grand 
crisis ripening between Catholicism and the pagan influences 
still existing in the empire. Up to the time of the conversion 
of Clovis, king of France, a. d. 496, the French and other 
nations of Western Rome were pagan; but subsequently to 
that event, the efforts .to convert idolaters to Romanism were 
crowned with great success. The conversion of Clovis is said 
to have been the occasion of bestowing upon the French mon- 
arch the titles of " Most Christian Majesty " and " Eldest Son 
of the Church." Between that time and a. d. 508, by alli- 
ances, capitulations, and conquests, the Arbor ici, the Roman 
garrisons in the West, Brittany, the Burgundians, and the 
Visigoths, were brought into subjection. 

From the time when these successes were fully accom- 
plished; namely, 508, the papacy was triumphant so far as 
paganism was concerned; for though the latter doubtless re- 
tarded the progress of the Catholic faith, yet it had not the 
power, if it had the disposition, to suppress the faith, and 
hinder the encroachments of the Roman pontiff. When the 
prominent powers of Europe gave up their attachment to pa- 
ganism, it was only to perpetuate its abominations in another 
form; for Christianity, as exhibited in the Catholic Church, 
was, and is, only paganism baptized. 



CHAPTER 11, VERSE 31 



321 



In England, Arthur, the first Christian king, founded the 
Christian worship on the ruins of the pagan. Rapin (book. 2, 
p. 121), who claims to be exact in the chronology of events, 
states that he was elected monarch of Britain in 508. 

The condition of the See of Rome was also peculiar at this 
time. In 498, Symmachus ascended the pontifical throne as a 
recent convert from paganism. He reigned to a. d. 511. He 
found his way to the papal chair, says Du Pin, by striving 
with his competitor even unto blood. He received adulation 
as the successor of St. Peter, and struck the key-note of papal 
assumption by presuming to excommunicate the emperor An- 
astasius. The most servile flatterers of the pope now began to 
maintain that he was constituted judge in the place of God, 
and that he was the vicegerent of the Most High. 

Such was the direction in which events were tending in the 
West. What posture did affairs at the same time assume in 
the East ? A strong papal party now existed in all parts of the 
empire. The adherents of this cause in Constantinople, en- 
couraged by the success of their brethren in the West, deemed 
it safe to commence open hostilities in behalf of their master 
at Rome. In 508 their partisan zeal culminated in a whirl- 
wind of fanaticism and civil war, which swept in fire and blood 
through the streets of the eastern capital. Gibbon, under the 
years 508 - 518, speaking of the commotions in Constantinople, 
says : — 

" The statues of the emperor were broken, and his person 
was concealed in a suburb, till, at the end of three days, he 
dared to implore the mercy of his subjects. Without his dia- 
dem, and in the posture of a suppliant, Anastasius appeared 
on the throne of the circus. The Catholics, before his face, 
rehearsed their genuine Trisagion; they exulted in the offer 
which he proclaimed by the voice of a herald of abdicating the 
purple ; they listened to the admonition that, since all could 
not reign, they should previously agree in the choice of a sover- 
eign; and they accepted the blood of two unpopular ministers, 
whom their master, without hesitation, condemned to the lions. 
These furious but transient seditions were encouraged by the 
success of Yitalian, who, with an army of Huns and Bulga- 



322 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



rians, for the most part idolaters, declared himself the cham- 
pion of the Catholic faith. In this pious rebellion he depopu- 
lated Thrace, besieged Constantinople, exterminated sixty-five 
thousand of his fellow Christians, till he obtained the recall of 
the bishops, the satisfaction of the pope, and the establishment 
of the Council of Chalcedon, an orthodox treaty, reluctantly 
signed by the dying Anastasius, and more faithfully performed 
by the uncle of Justinian. And such was the event of the first 
of the religious wars which have been waged in the name, and 
by the disciples, of the God of Peace." — Decline and Fall, 
Vol IY, p. 526. 

Let it be marked that in this year, 508, paganism had so 
far declined, and Catholicism had so far relatively increased in 
strength, that the Catholic Church for the first time waged a 
successful war against both the civil authority of the empire 
and the church' of the East, which had for the most part em- 
braced the Monophysite doctrine. The extermination of 
65,000 heretics was the result. 

With the following extract, we close the testimony on this 
point : — ■ 

" We now invite our modern Gamaliels to take a position 
with us in the place of the sanctuary of paganism (since claimed 
as the ' patrimony of St. Peter ') in 508. We look a few years 
into the past, and the rude paganism of the northern barbarians 
is pouring down upon the nominally Christian empire of West- 
ern Pome, triumphing everywhere, and its triumphs everywhere 
distinguished by the most savage cruelty. . . «. The empire 
falls, and is broken into fragments. One by one the lords and 
rulers of these fragments abandon their paganism, and profess 
the Christian faith. In religion the conquerors are yielding 
to the conquered. But still paganism is triumphant. Among 
its supporters there is one stern and successful conqueror 
(Clovis) ; but soon he also bows before the power of the new 
faith, and becomes its champion. He is still triumphant, but, 
as a hero and conqueror, reaches the zenith at the point we 
occupy, a. d. 508. 

" In or near the same year, the last important subdivision 



CHAPTER 11, VERSE 31 



323 



of the fallen empire is publicly and by the coronation of its 
triumphant e monarch/ Christianized. 

" The pontiff for the period on which we stand, is a recently 
converted pagan. The bloody contest which placed him in the 
chair was decided by the interposition of an Arian king. He 
is bowed to and saluted as filling ' the place of God on earth.' 
The senate is so far under his power that on suspicion that the 
interests of the See of Rome demand it, they excommunicate 
the emperor. . . . In 508 the mine is sprung beneath the 
throne of the Eastern Empire. The result of the confusion 
and strife it occasions is the humiliation of its rightful lord. 
Xow the question is, At ivliat time was paganism so far sup- 
pressed as to make room for its substitute and successor, the 
papal abomination? When was this abomination placed in a 
position to start on its career of blasphemy and blood ? Is 
there any other date for its being 'placed/ or 'set up/ in the 
room of paganism but 508? If the mysterious enchantress 
has not now brought all her victims within her power, she has 
taken her position, and some have yielded to the fascination. 
The others are at length subdued ; ' and kings, and peoples, 
and multitudes, and nations, and tongues ' are brought under 
the spell which prepares them, even while ( drunken with the 
blood of the martyrs of J esus,' to ' think they are doing God 
service,' and to fancy themselves the exclusive favorites of 
Heaven while becoming an easier and richer prey for the 
damnation of hell.". — Second Advent Manual, pp. 79-81. 

From these evidences we think it clear that the daily, or 
paganism, was taken away in a. d. 508. This was prepara- 
tory to the setting up, or establishment of the papacy, which 
was a separate and subsequent event. Of this the prophetic 
narrative now leads us to speak. 

"And they shall place the abomination that maketh deso- 
late." Having shown quite fully what constituted the taking 
away of the daily, or paganism, we now inquire, "When was 
the abomination that maketh desolate, or the papacy, placed, 
or set up ? The little horn that had eyes like the eyes of man 
was not slow to see when the way was open for his advance- 



324 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



nient and elevation. From the year 508 his progress toward 
universal supremacy was without a parallel. 

When Justinian was about to commence the Yandal war, 
a. d. 533, an enterprise of no small magnitude and difficulty, 
he wished to secure the influence of the bishop of Rome, who 
had then attained a position in which his opinion had great 
weight throughout a large portion of Christendom. Justinian 
therefore took it upon himself to decide the contest which had 
long existed between the sees of Rome and Constantinople as 
to which should have the precedence, by giving the preference 
to Rome, and declaring, in the fullest and most unequivocal 
terms, that the bishop of that city should be chief of the 
whole ecclesiastical body of the empire. A work on the Apoca- 
lypse, by Rev. George Croly, of England, published in 1827, 
presents a detailed account of the events by which the su- 
premacy of the pope of Rome was secured. He gives the 
following as the terms in which the letter of Justinian was 
expressed : — 

" Justinian, pious, fortunate, renowned, triumphant, em- 
peror, consul, etc., to John, the most holy archbishop of our 
city of Rome, and patriarch. 

" Rendering honor to the apostolic chair and to your holi- 
ness, as has been always, and is, our wish, and honoring your 
blessedness as a father, we have hastened to bring to the knowl- 
edge of your holiness all matters relating to the state of the 
churches; it having been at all times our. great desire to pre- 
serve the unity of your apostolic chair, and the constitution 
of the holy churches of God, which has obtained hitherto, and 
still obtains. 

" Therefore we have made no delay in subjecting and unit- 
ing to your holiness all the priests of the whole East. . . . We 
cannot suffer that anything which relates to the state of the 
church, however manifest and unquestionable, should be moved 
without the knowledge of your holiness, who is the PIead of 
ale the Holy Churches ; for in all things, as Ave have al- 
ready declared, we are anxious to increase the honor and au- 
thority of your apostolic chair." — Croly, pp. 114, 

" The emperor's letter," continues Mr. Croly, " must have 



CHAPTER 11, VERSE 31 325 

been sent before the 25th of March,. 533 ; for in his letter of 
that date to Epiphanius, he speaks of its having been already 
dispatched, and repeats his decision that all affairs touching 
the church shall be referred to the pope, ' head of all bishops, 
and the true and effective corrector of heretics.' " 

The pope, in his answer, returned the same month of the 
following year, 534, observes that among the virtues of Jus- 
tinian, " one shines as a star, — his reverence for the apostolic 
chair, to which he has subjected and united all the churches, 
it being truly the head of all." 

The " Novelise " of the Justinian code give unanswerable 
proof of the authenticity of the title. The preamble of the 9th 
states that " as the elder Rome was the founder of the laws, so 
was it not to be questioned that in her was the supremacy of 
the Pontificate." The 131st, on the ecclesiastical titles and 
privileges, chapter 2, states: "We therefore decree that the 
most holy pope of the elder Rome is the first of all the priest- 
hood, and that the most blessed archbishop of Constantinople, 
the new Rome, shall hold the second rank after the holy apos- 
tolic chair of the elder Rome." 

Toward the close of the sixth century, John of Constanti- 
nople denied the Roman supremacy, and assumed for himself 
the title of universal bishop ; whereupon Gregory the great, 
indignant at the usurpation, denounced John, and declared, 
with unconscious truth, that he who would assume the title of 
universal bishop was Antichrist. Phocas, in 606, suppressed 
the claim of the bishop of Constantinople, and vindicated that 
of the bishop of Rome. But Phocas was not the founder of 
papal supremacy. Says Croly, " That Phocas repressed the 
claim of the bishop of Constantinople is beyond a doubt. But 
the highest authorities among the civilians and annalists of 
Rome, spurn the idea that Phocas was the founder of the 
supremacy of Rome ; they ascend to Justinian as the only 
legitimate source, and rightly date the title from the memo- 
rable year 533." Again he says: " On reference to Baronius, 
the established authority among the Roman Catholic annalists, 
I found the whole detail of Justinian's grants of supremacy to 
the pope formally given. The entire transaction was of the 
21 



326 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



most authentic and regular kind, and suitable to the impor- 
tance of the transfer." — Apocalypse, p. 8. 

Such were the circumstances attending the decree of Jus- 
tinian. But the provisions of this decree could not at once be 
carried into effect; for Rome and Italy were held by the Os- 
trogoths, who were Arians in faith, and strongly opposed to 
the religion of Justinian and the pope. It was therefore evi- 
dent that the Ostrogoths must be rooted out of Rome before 
the pope could exercise the power with which he had been 
clothed. To accomplish this object, the Italian war was com- 
menced in 534. The management of the campaign was en- 
trusted to Belisarius. On his approach toward Rome, several 
cities forsook Vitijes, their Gothic and heretical sovereign, and 
joined the armies of the Catholic emperor. The Goths, decid- 
ing to delay offensive operations till spring, allowed Belisarius 
to enter Rome without opposition. " The deputies of the pope 
and clergy, of the senate and people, invited the lieutenant of 
Justinian to accept their voluntary allegiance." 

Belisarius entered Rome Dec. 10, 536. But this was not 
an end of the struggle ; for the Goths, rallying their forces, re- 
solved to dispute his possession of the city by a regular siege. 
They commenced in March, 537. Belisarius feared despair 
and treachery on the part of the people. Several senators, and 
Pope Sylverius, on proof or suspicion of treason, were sent 
into exile. The emperor commanded the clergy to elect a new 
bishop. After solemnly invoking the Holy Ghost, says Gib- 
bon, they elected the deacon Vigilius, who, by a bribe of two 
hundred pounds of gold, had purchased the honor. 

The whole nation of the Ostrogoths had been assembled for 
the siege of Rome ; but success did not attend their efforts. 
Their hosts melted away in frequent and bloody combats under 
the city walls ; and the year and nine days during which the 
siege lasted, witnessed almost the entire consumption of the 
whole nation. In the month of March, 538, dangers begin- 
ning to threaten them from other quarters, they raised the 
siege, burned their tents, and retired in tumult and confusion 
from the city, with numbers scarcely sufficient to preserve 
their existence as a nation or their identity as a people. 



CHAPTER 11, VERSES 31 - Sk 



329 



Thus the Gothic horn, the last of the three, was plucked up 
before the little horn of Daniel 7. Nothing now stood in the 
way of the pope to prevent his exercising the power conferred 
upon him by Justinian five years before. The saints, times, 
and laws were now in his hands, not in purpose only, but in 
fact. And this must therefore be taken as the year when this 
abomination was placed, or set up, and as the point from 
which to date the predicted 1260 years of its supremacy. 

Verse 32. And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he 
corrupt by flatteries : but the people that do know their God shall 
be strong, and do exploits. 

Those that forsake the covenant, the Holy Scriptures, and 
think more of the decrees of popes and the decisions of councils 
than they do of the word of . God, — these shall he, the pope, 
corrupt by flatteries; that is, lead them on in their partisan 
zeal for himself by the bestowment of wealth, position, and 
honors. 

At the same time a people shall exist who know their God ; 
and these shall be strong, and do exploits. These were those 
who kept pure religion alive in the earth during the dark ages 
of papal tyranny, and performed marvelous acts of self-sacrifice 
and religious heroism in behalf of their faith. Prominent 
among these stand the TValdenses, Albigenses, Huguenots, etc. 

Verse 33. And they that understand among the people shall in- 
struct many; yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by cap- 
tivity, and by spoil, many days. 

The long period of papal persecution against those who 
were struggling to maintain the truth and instruct their fellow 
men in ways of righteousness, is here brought to view. The 
number of the days during which they were thus to fall is 
given in Dan. 7:25; 12:7; Rev. 12 : 6, 14 ; .13 : 5. The pe- 
riod is called, " a time, times, and the dividing of time ; " "a 
time, times, and a half ; " " a thousand two hundred and three- 
score days;" and "forty and two months." It is the 1260 
years of papal supremacy. 

Verse 34. Now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a 
little help; but many shall cleave to them with flatteries. 



330 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



In Revelation 12, where this same papal persecution is 
brought to view, we read that the earth helped the woman by 
opening her mouth, and swallowing up the flood which the 
dragon cast out after her. The great Reformation by Luther 
and his co-workers furnished the help here foretold. The Ger- 
man states espoused the Protestant cause, protected the reform- 
ers, and restrained the work of persecution so furiously carried 
on by the papal church. But when they should be helped, and 
the cause begin to become popular, many were to cleave unto 
them with flatteries, or embrace the cause from unworthy 
motives, be insincere, hollow-hearted, and speak smooth and 
friendly words through a policy of self-interest. 

Verse 35. And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try 
them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the 
end: because it is yet for a time appointed. 

Though restrained, the spirit of persecution was not de- 
stroyed. It broke out whenever there was opportunity. Espe- 
cially was this the case in England. The religious state of 
that kingdom was fluctuating, it being sometimes under Prot- 
estant, and sometimes papal jurisdiction, according to the re- 
ligion of the ruling house. The bloody Queen Mary was a 
mortal enemy to the Protestant cause, and multitudes fell 
victims to her relentless persecutions. And this condition of 
affairs was to last more or less to the time of the end. The 
natural conclusion would be that when the time of the end 
should come, this power which the Church of Pome had pos- 
sessed to punish heretics, which had been the cause of so much 
persecution, and which for a time had been restrained, would 
now be taken entirely away; and the conclusion would be 
equally evident that this taking away of the papal supremacy 
would mark the commencement of the period here called the 
"time of the end." If this application is correct, the time of 
the end commenced in 1798 ; for there, as already noticed, the 
papacy was overthrown by the French, and has never since 
been able to wield the power it before possessed. That the 
oppression of the church by the papacy is what is here referred 
to, is evident, because that is the only one, with the possible 



CHAPTER 11, VERSES 35, 86 



331 



exception of Rev. 2 : 10, connected with a " time appointed/' 
or a prophetic period. 

Verse 36. And the king shall do according to his will; and he 
shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall 
speak marvelous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till 
the indignation be accomplished; for that that is determined shall 
be done. 

The king here introduced cannot denote the same power 
which was last noticed; namely, the papal power; for the 
specifications will not hold good if applied to that power. 

Take a declaration in the next verse : " ISTor regard any 
god." This has never been true of the papacy. God and 
Christ, though often placed in a false position, have never been 
professedly set aside and rejected from that system of religion. 
The only difficulty in applying it to a new power lies in the 
definite article the; for, it is urged, the expression " the king " 
would identify this as one last spoken of. If it could be 
properly translated a king, there would be no difficulty; and it 
is said that some of the best Biblical critics give it this render- 
ing, Mede, Wintle, Boothroyd, and others translating the pas- 
sage, "A certain king shall do according to his will," thus 
clearly introducing a new power upon the stage of action. 

Three peculiar features must appear in the power which 
fulfils this prophecy: (1) It must assume the character here 
delineated near the commencement of the time of the end, to 
which we were brought down in the preceding verse; (2) it 
must be a wilful power; (3) it must be an atheistical power; 
or perhaps the two latter specifications might be united by 
saying that its wilfulness would be manifested in the direction 
of atheism. A revolution exactly answering to this description 
did take place in France at the time indicated in the prophecy. 
Voltaire had sowed the seeds which bore their legitimate and 
baleful fruit. That boastful infidel, in his pompous but impo- 
tent self-conceit, had said, " I am weary of hearing people 
repeat that twelve men established the Christian religion. I 
will prove that one man may suffice to overthrow it." Asso- 
ciating with himself such men as Rousseau, D'Alembert, Dide- 
rot, and others, he undertook the work. They sowed to the 



332 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



wind, and reaped the whirlwind. Their efforts culminated 
in the revolution of 1793, when the Bible was discarded, and 
the existence of the Deity denied, as the voice of the nation. 
The historian thus describes this great religious change: — 
" It was not enough, they said, for a regenerate nation to 
have dethroned earthly kings, unless she stretched out the arm 
of defiance toward those powers which superstition had repre- 
sented as reigning over boundless space." — Scott's Napoleon, 
Vol. I, p. 112. 

Again he says: — 

" The constitutional bishop of Paris was brought forward to 
play the principal part in the most impudent and scandalous 
farce ever enacted in the face of a national representation. . . . 
He was brought forward in full procession, to declare to the 
convention that the religion which he had taught so many years 
was, in every respect, a piece of priestcraft, which had no 
foundation either in history or sacred truth. He disowned, in 
solemn and explicit terms, the existence of the Deity, to 
whose worship he had been consecrated, and devoted himself 
in future to the homage of Liberty, Equality, Virtue, and Mo- 
rality. He then laid on the table his episcopal decorations, 
and received a fraternal embrace from the president of the 
convention. Several apostate priests followed the example of 
this prelate. . . . The world, for the first time, heard an 
assembly of men, born and educated in civilization, and as- 
suming the right to govern one of the finest of the European- 
nations, uplift their united voice to deny the most solemn truth 
which man's soul receives, and renounce UNANIMOUSLY 
THE BELIEF AND WOESHIP OE DEITY." — Id., Vol. 
I, p. 11 S. 

A writer some years ago in Blackwood's Magazine said: — 
" France is the only nation in the world concerning which 
the authentic record survives, that as a nation she lifted her 
hand in open rebellion against the Author of the universe. 
Plenty of blasphemers, plenty of infidels, there have been, and 
still continue to be, in England, Germany, Spain, and else- 
where; but France stands apart in the world's history as the 



CHAPTER 11, VERSES 36, 37 



333 



single state which, by the decree of her legislative assembly, 
pronounced that there was no God, and of which the entire 
population of the capital, and a vast majority elsewhere, women 
as well as men, danced and sang with joy in accepting the 
announcement. ' ? 

But there are other and still more striking specifications 
which were fulfilled in this power.- 

Verse 37. Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the 
desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself 
above all. 

The Hebrew word for woman is also translated wife; and 
Bishop Newton observes that this passage would be more prop- 
erly rendered " the desire of wives." This would seem to 
indicate that this government, at the same time it declared 
that God did not exist, would trample under foot the law 
which God had given to regulate the marriage institution. 
And we find that the historian has, unconsciously perhaps, and 
if so all the more significantly, coupled together the atheism 
and licentiousness of this government in the same order in 
which they are presented in the prophecy. He says : — 

" Intimately connected with these laws affecting religion 
was that which reduced the union of marriage — the most 
sacred engagements which human beings can form, and the 
permanence of which leads most strongly to the consolidation 
of society — ■ to the state of a mere civil contract of a transi- 
tory character, which any two persons might engage in and 
cast loose at pleasure, when their taste was changed or their 
appetite gratified. If fiends had set themselves at work to 
discover a mode of most effectually destroying whatever is 
venerable, graceful, or permanent in domestic life, and obtain- 
ing at the same time an. assurance that the mischief which it 
was their object to create should be perpetuated from one gener- 
ation to another, they could not have invented a more effectual 
plan than the degradation of marriage into a state of mere 
occasional cohabitation or licensed concubinage. Sophie Ar- 
noult, an actress famous for the witty things she said, described 
the republican marriage as the sacrament of adultery. These 



334 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



anti-religious and anti-social regulations did not answer the pur- 
pose of the frantic and inconsiderate zealots by whom they had 
been urged forward." — Scott's Napoleon, Vol. I, p. 173. 

" IsTor regard any god." In addition to the testimony al- 
ready presented to show the utter atheism of the nation at this 
time, the following fearful language of madness and presump- 
tion is to be recorded: — 

" The fear of God is so far from being the beginning of 
wisdom that it is the beginning of folly. Modesty is only the 
invention of refined voluptuousness. The Supreme King, the 
God of the Jews and the Christians, is but a phantom. Jesus 
Christ is an impostor/' 

Another writer says : — 

"Aug 26, 1792, an open confession of atheism was made 
by the National Convention; and corresponding societies and 
atheistical clubs were everywhere fearlessly held in the French 
nation. Massacres and the reign of terror became the most 
horrid." — Smith's Key to Revelation, p. 323. 

" Hebert, Chaumette, and their associates appeared at the 
bar, and declared that God did not exist." — Alison, Vol. I, 
p. 150. 

At this juncture all religious worship was prohibited ex- 
cept that of liberty and the country. The gold and silver 
plate of the churches was seized upon and desecrated. The 
churches were closed. The bells were broken and cast into 
cannon. The Bible was publicly burned. The sacramental 
vessels were paraded through the streets on an ass, in token 
of contempt. A week of ten days instead of seven was 
established, and death was declared, in conspicuous letters 
posted over their burial places, to be an eternal sleep. But 
the crowning blasphemy, if these orgies of hell admit of de- 
grees, remained to be performed by the comedian Monvel, 
who, as a priest of Illuminism, said: — 

" God, if you exist, avenge your injured name. I bid you 
defiance ! You remain silent. You dare not launch your 
thunders ! Who, after this, will believe in your existence f 
The whole ecclesiastical establishment was destroyed." — Scott's 
Napoleon, Vol I, p. 173. 



STORMING OF THE TUILLERIES 



CHAPTER 11, VERSES 37, 38 



337 



Behold what man is when left to himself, and what infidel- 
ity is when the restraints of law are thrown off, and it has the 
power in its own hands ! Can it be doubted that these scenes 
are what the omniscient One foresaw, and noted on the sacred 
page, when he pointed out a kingdom to arise which should 
exalt itself above every god, and disregard them all ? 

Verse 38. But in his estate shall he honor the God of forces : and 
a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honor with gold, and silver, 
and with precious stones, and pleasant things. 

We meet a seeming contradiction in this verse. How can 
a nation disregard every god, and yet honor the god of forces ? 
It could not at one and the same time hold both these posi- 
tions; but it might for a time disregard all gods, and then 
subsequently introduce another worship and regard the god of 
forces. Did such a change occur in France at this time ? — It 
did. The attempt to make France a godless nation produced 
such anarchy that the rulers feared the power would pass en- 
tirely out of their hands, and therefore perceived that, as a 
political necessity, some kind of worship must be introduced ; 
but they did not intend to introduce any movement which would 
increase devotion, or develop any true spiritual character among 
the people, but only such as would keep themselves in power, 
and give them control of the national forces. A few extracts 
from history will show this. Liberty and country were at first 
the objects of adoration. " Liberty, equality, virtue, and mo- 
rality," the very opposites of anything they possessed in fact 
or exhibited in practice, were words which they set forth as 
describing the deity of the nation. In 1794 the worship of 
the Goddess of Reason was introduced, and is thus described 
by the historian: — ■ 

" One of the ceremonies of this insane time stands unrivaled 
for absurdity combined with impiety. The doors of the con- 
vention were thrown open to a band of musicians, preceded by 
whom, .the members of the municipal body entered in solemn 
procession, singing a hymn in praise of liberty, and escorting, 
r »<* the object of their future worship, a vailed female whom 
they termed the Goddess of Reason. Being brought within 



338 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



the bar, she was unvailed with great form, and placed on the 
right hand of the president, when she was generally recognized 
as a dancing girl of the opera, with whose charms most of the 
persons present were acquainted from her appearance on the 
stage, while the experience of individuals was further extended. 
To this person, as the fittest representative of that reason whom 
they worshiped, the National Convention of France rendered 
public homage. This impious and ridiculous mummery had a 
certain fashion; and the installation of the Goddess of Reason 
was renewed and imitated throughout the nation, in such places 
where the inhabitants desired to show themselves equal to all 
the heights of the Revolution." — Scott's Life of Napoleon. 

In introducing the worship of Reason, in 1794, Chaumette 
said : — 

" * Legislative fanaticism has lost its hold ; it has given place 
to reason. We have left its temples ; they are regenerated. 
To-day an immense multitude are assembled under its Gothic 
roofs, which, for the first time, will re-echo the voice of truth. 
There the French will celebrate their true worship — that of 
Liberty and Reason. There we will form new vows for the 
prosperity of the armies of the Republic ; there we will abandon 
the worship of inanimate idols for* that of Reason — this ani- 
mated image, the masterpiece of creation.' 

"A vailed female, arrayed in blue drapery, was brought 
into the convention ; and Chaumette, taking her by the hand, — - 

" 1 Mortals/ said he, c cease to tremble before the powerless 
thunders of a God whom your fears have created. Henceforth 
acknowledge no divinity but Reason. I offer you its noblest 
and purest image ; if you must have idols, sacrifice only to such 
as this. . . . Fall before the august Senate of Freedom, Yail 
of Reason.' 

"At the same time the goddess appeared, personified by a 
celebrated beauty, Madame Millard, of the opera, known in 
more than one character to most of the convention. The god- 
dess, after being embraced by the president, was mounted on 
a magnificent car, and conducted, amidst an immense crowd, 
to the cathedral of Notre Dame, to take the place of the Deity. 
There she was elevated on the high altar, and received the 
adoration of all present. 



THE GODDESS OF REASON 



CHAPTER 11, VERSES 38, 39 



341 



" On the 11th of November, the popular society of the 
museum entered the hall of the municipality, exclaiming, 
e Vive la Raisonl ' and carrying on the top of a pole the half- 
burned remains of several books, among others the breviaries 
and the Old and New Testaments, which i expiated in a great 
fire,' said the president, ( all the fooleries which they have made 
the human race commit.' 

" The most sacred relations of life were at the same period 
placed on a new footing suited to the extravagant ideas of the 
times. Marriage was declared a civil contract, binding only 
during the pleasure of the contracting parties. Mademoiselle 
Arnoult, a celebrated comedian, expressed the public feeling 
when she called ' marriage the sacrament of adultery.' " — Id. 

Truly this was a strange god, whom the fathers of that 
generation knew not. No such deity had ever before been set 
up as an object of adoration. And well might it be called the 
god of forces; for the object of the movement was to cause 
the people to renew their covenant and repeat their vows for 
the prosperity of the armies of France. Eead again a few 
lines from the extract already given : — 

" We have left its temples ; they are regenerated. To-day an 
immense multitude is assembled under' its Gothic roofs, which 
for the first time, will re-echo the voice of truth. There the 
French will celebrate their true worship, — that of Liberty and 
Reason. There we will form new vows for the prosperity of 
the armies of the Republic." * 

Verse 39. Thus shall he do in the most strong- holds with a 
strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory : and 
he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land 
for gain. 

The system of paganism which had been introduced into 
France, as exemplified in the worship of the idol set up in the 
person of the Goddess of Reason, and regulated by a heathen 

* During the time while the fantastic worship of reason was the national craze, 
the leaders of the revolution are known to history as " the atheists." But it was 
soon perceived that a religion with more powerful sanctions than the one then in 
vogue must be instituted to hold the people. A form of worship therefore followed 
in which the object of adoration was the " Supreme Being." It was equally hollow 
so far as any reformation of life and vital godliness were concerned, but it took 
hold upon the supernatural. And while the Goddess of Reason was indeed a " strange 
god," the statement in regard to honoring the " God of forces," may perhaps more 
appropriately be referred to this latter phase. See Thiers's " French Revolution." 

22 



342 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



ritual which had been enacted by the National Assembly for 
the nse of the French people, continued in force till the 
appointment of Napoleon to the provisional consulate of 
Trance in 1799. The adherents of this strange religion occu- 
pied the fortified places, the strongholds of the nation, as 
expressed in this verse. 

But that which serves to identify the application of this 
prophecy to France, perhaps as clearly as any other particular, 
is the statement made in the last clause of the verse; namely, 
that they should " divide the land for gain." Previous to the 
Revolution, the landed property of France was owned by a few 
landlords in immense estates. These estates were required by 
the law to remain undivided, so that no heirs or creditors 
could partition them. But revolution knows no law; and in 
the anarchy that now reigned, as noted also in the eleventh of 
Revelation, the titles of the nobility were abolished, and their 
lands disposed of in small parcels for the benefit of the public 
exchequer. The government was in need of funds, and these 
large landed estates were confiscated, and sold at auction in 
parcels to suit purchasers. The historian thus records this 
unique transaction: — 

" The confiscation of two thirds of the landed property of 
the kingdom, which arose from the decrees of the convention 
against the emigrants, clergy, and persons convicted at the 
Revolutionary Tribunals, . . . placed funds worth above' 
£700,000,000 sterling at the disposal of the government." — 
Alison, Vol. IV, p. 151. 

When did ever an event transpire, and in what country, 
fulfilling a prophecy more completely than this ? As the nation 
began to come to itself, a more rational religion was demanded, 
and the heathen ritual was abolished. The historian thus de- 
scribes that event : — 

"A third and bolder measure was the discarding of the 
heathen ritual, and re-opening the churches for Christian wor- 
ship ; and of this the credit was wholly Napoleon's, who had 
to contend with the philosophic prejudices of almost all his col- 
leagues. He, in his conversation with them, made no attempts 
to represent himself a believer in Christianity, but stood only 



CHAPTER 11, VERSES 39, lfi 



343 



on the necessity of providing the people with the regular means 
of worship wherever it is meant to have a state of tranquillity. 
The priests who chose to take the oath of fidelity to the govern- 
ment were readmitted to their functions; and this wise meas- 
ure was followed "by the adherence of not less than 20,000 of 
these ministers of religion, who had hitherto languished in the 
prisons of France." — Lockhart's Life of Napoleon, Vol. I, 
p. 154. 

Thus terminated the Reign of Terror and the Infidel Revo- 
lution. Out of the ruins rose Bonaparte, to guide the tumult 
to his own elevation, place himself at the head of the French 
government, and strike terror to the hearts of nations. 

Verse 40. And at the time of the end shall the "king of the south 
push at him : and the king of the north shall come against him like a 
whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships : 
and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. 

After a long interval, the king of the south and the king 
of the north again appear on the stage of action. We have 
met with nothing to indicate that we are to look to any local- 
ities for these powers other than those which, shortly after the 
death of Alexander, constituted respectively the southern and 
northern divisions of his empire. The king of the south was 
at that time Egypt, and the king of the north was Syria, in- 
cluding Thrace and Asia Minor. Egypt is still, by common 
agreement, the king of the south, while the territory which at 
first constituted the king of the north, has been for the past 
four hundred years wholly included within the dominions of 
the sultan of Turkey. To Egypt and Turkey, then, in connec- 
tion with the power last under consideration, we must look for 
a fulfilment of the verse before us. 

This application of the prophecy calls for a conflict to spring 
up between Egypt and France, and Turkey and France, in 
1798, which year, as we have seen, marked the beginning of 
the time of the end; and if history testifies that such a tri- 
angular war did break out in that year, it will be conclusive 
proof of the correctness of the application. 

We inquire, therefore, Is it a fact that at the time of the 
end, Egypt did " push," or make a comparatively feeble resist- 



344 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



anee, while Turkey did come like a resistless " whirlwind," 
against " him," that is, the government of France ? We have 
already produced some evidence that the time of the end com- 
menced in 1798 ; and no reader of history need be informed 
that in that very year a state of open hostility between France 
and Egypt was inauagurated. 

To what extent this conflict owed its origin to the dreams 
of glory deliriously cherished in the ambitious brain of Napo- 
leon Bonaparte, the historian will form his own opinion; but 
the French, or Napoleon at least, contrived to make Egypt the 
aggressor. Thus, when in the invasion of that country he had 
secured his first foothold in Alexandria, he declared that " he 
had not come to ravage the country or to wrest it from the 
Grand Seignior, but merely to deliver it from the domination 
of the Mamelukes, and to revenge the outrages ivhich they had 
committed against France." — • Thiers s French Revolution, Vol. 
IV, p. 268. 

Again the historian says : " Besides, he [Bonaparte] had 
strong reasons to urge against them [the Mamelukes] ; for 
they had never ceased to ill-treat the French." — Id., p. 273. 

The beginning of the year 1798 found France indulging in 
immense projects against the English. The Directory desired 
Bonaparte to undertake at once a descent upon England; but 
he saw that no direct operations of that kind could be judi- 
ciously undertaken before the fall, and he was unwilling to 
hazard his growing reputation by spending the summer in idle- 
ness. " But," says the historian, " he saw a far-off land, 
where a glory was to be won which would gain a new charm 
in the eyes of his countrymen by the romance and mystery 
which hung upon the scene. Egypt, the land of the Pharaohs 
and the Ptolemies, would be a noble field for new triumphs." 
■ — White's History of France, p. If 69. 

But while still broader visions of glory opened before the 
eyes of Bonaparte in those Eastern historic lands, covering not 
Egypt only, but Syria, Persia, Hindustan, even to the Ganges 
itself, he had no difficulty in persuading the Directory that 
Egypt was the vulnerable point through which to strike at 
England by intercepting her Eastern trade. Hence on the 



CHAPTER 11, VERSE 1+0 



345 



pretext above mentioned, the Egyptian campaign was under- 
taken. 

The downfall of the papacy, which marked the termination 
of the 1260 years, and according to verse 35 showed the 
commencement of the time of the end, occurred on the 10th 
of February, 1798, when Rome fell into the hands of Berthier, 
the general of the French. On the 5th of March following, 
Bonaparte received the decree of the Directory relative to the 
expedition against Egypt. He left Paris May 3, and set sail 
from Toulon the 19th, with a large naval armament consisting 
of 500 sail, carrying 40,000 soldiers and 10,000 sailors. July 
5, Alexandria was taken, and immediately fortified. On the 
23 d the decisive battle of the pyramids was fought, in which 
the Mamelukes contested the field with valor and desperation, 
but were no match for the disciplined legions of the French. 
Murad Bey lost all his cannon, 400 camels, and 3,000 men. 
The loss of the French was comparatively slight. On the 
24th, Bonaparte entered Cairo, the capital of Egypt, and only 
waited the subsidence of the floods of the Nile to pursue Murad 
Bey to Upper Egypt, whither he had retired with his shattered 
cavalry, and so make a conquest of the whole country. Thus 
the king of the south was able to make but a feeble resistance. 

At this juncture, however, the situation of Napoleon began 
to grow precarious. The French fleet, which was his only 
channel of communication with France, was destroyed by the 
English under Nelson at Aboukir ; and on September 2 of this 
same year, 1798, the sultan of Turkey, under feelings of jeal- 
ousy against France, artfully fostered by the English ambassa- 
dors at Constantinople, and exasperated that Egypt, so long a 
semi-dependency of the Ottoman empire, should be transformed 
into a French province, declared war against France. Thus 
the king of the north (Turkey") came against him (France) in 
the same year that the king of the south (Egypt) "pushed," 
and both " at the time of the end ; " which is another conclu- 
sive proof that the year 1798 is the year which begins that 
period; and all of which is a demonstration that this appli- 
cation of the prophecy is correct ; for so many events meeting 
so accurately the specifications of the prophecy could not take 



346 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



place together, and not constitute a fulfilment of the prophecy. 

Was the coining of the king of the north, or Turkey, like 
a whirlwind in comparison with the pushing of Egypt ? Na- 
poleon had crushed the armies of Egypt ; he assayed to do the 
same thing with the armies of the sultan, who were menacing 
an attack from the side of Asia. Feb. 27, 1799, with 18,000 
men, he commenced his march from Cairo to Syria. He first 
took the fort of El-Arish, in the desert, then Jaffa (the Joppa 
of the Bible), conquered the inhabitants of Naplous at Zeta, 
and was again victorious at Jafet. Meanwhile, a strong body 
of Turks had intrenched themselves at St. Jean d'Acre, while 
swarms of Mussulmans gathered in the mountains of Samaria, 
ready to swoop down upon the French when they should be- 
siege Acre. Sir Sidney Smith at the same time appeared 
before St. Jean d'Acre with two English ships, reinforced the 
Turkish garrison of that place, and captured the apparatus for 
the siege, which Napoleon had sent across by sea from Alexan- 
dria. A Turkish fleet soon appeared in the offing, which, with 
the Russian and English vessels then co-operating with them, 
constituted the " many ships " of the king of the north. 

On the 18th of March the siege commenced. Napoleon 
was twice called away to save some Erench divisions from 
falling into the hands of the Mussulman hordes that filled the 
country. Twice also a breach was made in the wall of the 
city; but the assailants were met with such fury by the gar- 
rison, that they were obliged, despite their best efforts, to give 
over the struggle. After a continuance of sixty days, Napo- 
leon raised the siege, sounded, for the first time in his career, 
the note of retreat, and on the 21st of May, 1799, commenced 
to retrace his steps to Egypt. 

"And he shall overflow and pass over." We have found 
events which furnish a very striking fulfilment of the pushing 
of the king of the south, and the whirlwind onset of the king 
of the north against the Erench power. Thus far there is 
quite a general agreement in the application of the prophecy. 
We now reach a point where the views of expositors begin to 
diverge. To whom do the words he " shall overflow and pass 
over," refer ? — to Erance or to the king of the north ? The 



CHAPTER 11, VERSE W 



347 



application of the remainder of this chapter depends upon the 
•answer to this question. From this point two lines of inter- 
pretation are maintained. Some apply the words to France, 
and endeavor to find a fulfilment in the career of Napoleon. 
Others apply them to the king of the north, and accordingly 
point for a fulfilment to events in the history of Turkey. We 
speak of these two positions only, as the attempt which some 
make to bring in the papacy here is so evidently wide of the 
mark that its consideration need not detain us. If neither of 
these positions is free from difficulty, as we presume no one 
will claim that it is, absolutely, it only remains that we take 
that one which has the weight of evidence in its favor. And 
we shall find one in favor of which the evidence does so greatly 
preponderate, to the exclusion of all others, as scarcely to leave 
any room for doubt in regard to the view here mentioned. 

Respecting the application of this portion of the prophecy 
to Napoleon or to France under his leadership, so far as we 
are acquainted with his history, we do not find events which we 
can urge with any degree of assurance as the fulfilment of 
the remaining portion of this chapter, and hence do not see 
how it can be thus applied. It must, then, be fulfilled by 
Turkey, unless it can be shown ( 1 ) that the expression " king 
of the north" does not apply to Turkey, or (2) that there is 
some other power besides either France or the king of the 
north which fulfilled this part of the prediction. But if Tur- 
key, now occupying the territory which constituted the north- 
ern division of Alexander's empire, is not the king of the north 
of this prophecy, then we are left without any principle to 
guide us in the interpretation; and we presume all will agree 
that there is no room for the introduction of any other power 
here. The French king, and the king of the north, are the 
only ones to whom the prediction can apply. The fulfilment 
must lie between them. 

Some considerations certainly favor the idea that there is, 
in the latter part of verse 40, a transfer of the burden of the 
prophecy from the French power to the king of the north. 
The king of the north is introduced just before, as coming 
forth like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and many 



348 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



ships. The collision between this power • and the French we 
have already noticed. The king of the north, with the aid of 
his allies, gained the day in this contest; and the Trench, 
foiled in their efforts, were driven back into Egypt. Now 
it wonld seem to be the more natural application to refer the 
" overflowing and passing over " to that power which emerged 
in triumph from that struggle; and that power was Turkey. 
We will only add that one who is familiar with the Hebrew 
assures us that the construction of this passage is such as to 
make it necessary to refer the overflowing and passing over 
to the king of the north, these words expressing the result of 
that movement which is just before likened to the fury of the 
whirlwind. 

Verse 41. He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many 
countries shall be overthrown : but these shall escape out of his hand, 
even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Amnion. 

The facts just stated relative to the campaign of the French 
against Turkey, and the repulse of the former at St. Jean 
d'Acre, were drawn chiefly from the Encyclopedia Americana. 
From the same source we gather further particulars respecting 
the retreat of the French into Egypt, and the additional re- 
verses which compelled them to evacuate that country. 

Abandoning a campaign in which one third of the army 
had fallen victims to war and the plague, the French retired 
from St. Jean d'Acre, and after a fatiguing march of twenty- 
six days re-entered Cairo in Egypt. They thus abandoned all 
the conquests they had made in Judea ; and the " glorious 
land," Palestine, with ail its provinces, here called " countries," 
fell back again under the oppressive rule of the Turk. Edom, 
Moab, and Ammon, lying outside the limits of Palestine, south 
and east of the Dead Sea and the Jordan, were out of the line 
of march of the Turks from Syria to Egypt, and so escaped the 
ravages of that campaign. On this passage, Adam Clarke has 
the following note : " These and other Arabians, they [the 
Turks] have never been able 'to subdue. They still occupy the 
deserts, and receive a yearly pension of forty thousand crowns 
of gold from the Ottoman emperors to permit the caravans 
with the pilgrims for Mecca to have a free passage." 



CHAPTER 11, VERSE 42 



349 



Verse 42. He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: 
and the land of Egypt shall not escape. 

On the retreat of the Trench to Egypt, a Turkish fleet 
landed 18,000 men at Aboukir. Napoleon immediately at- 
tacked the place, completely routing the Turks, and re-estab- 
lishing his authority in Egypt. But at this point, severe 
reverses to the French arms in Europe called Napoleon home 
to look after the interests of his own country. The command 
of the troops in Egypt was left with General Kleber, who, after 
a period of untiring activity for the benefit of the army, was 
murdered by a Turk in Cairo, and the command was left with 
Abdallah Menou. With an army which could not be recruited, 
every loss was serious. 

Meanwhile, the English government, as the ally of the 
Turks, had resolved to wrest Egypt from the French. March 
13, 1800, an English fleet disembarked a body of troops at 
Aboukir. The French gave battle the next day, but were 
forced to retire. On the 18th Aboukir surrendered. On the 
28th reinforcements were brought by a Turkish fleet, and the 
grand vizier approached from Syria with a large army. The 
19th, Eosetta surrendered to the combined forces of the En- 
glish and Turks. At Eamanieh a French corps of 4,000 men 
was defeated by 8,000 English and 6,000 Turks. At Elmen- 
ayer 5,000 French were obliged to retreat, May 16, by the 
vizier, who was pressing forward to Cairo with 20,000 men. 
The whole French army was now shut up in Cairo and Alex- 
andria. Cairo capitulated June 27, and Alexandria, Sep- 
tember 2. Four weeks after, Oct. 1, 1801, the preliminaries 
of peace were signed at London. 

" Egypt shall not escape " were the words of the prophecy. 
This language seems to imply that Egypt would be brought 
into subjection to some power from whose dominion it would 
desire to be released. As between the French and Turks, how 
did this question stand with the Egyptians ? — They preferred 
French rule. In E. E. Madden's Travels in Egypt, Nubia, 
Turkey, and Palestine in the years 1824 - 1827, published in 
London in 1829, it is stated that the French were much re- 
gretted by the Egyptians, and extolled as benefactors; that 



350 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



" for the short period they remained, they left traces of amelio- 
ration; " and that, if they conld have established their power, 
Egypt would now be comparatively civilized. In view of this 
testimony, the language would not be appropriate if applied to 
the Trench ; the Egyptians did not desire to escape out of their 
hands. They did desire to escape from the hands of the Turks, 
but could not. 

Verse 43. But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and 
of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt : and the Libyans 
and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. 

In illustration of this verse we quote the following from 
Historic Echoes of the Voice of God, p. 49 : — 

" History gives the following facts : When the French were 
driven out of Egypt, and the Turks took possession, the sultan 
permitted the Egyptians to reorganize their government as it 
was before the French invasion. He asked of the Egyptians 
neither soldiers, guns, nor fortifications, but left them to man- 
age their own affairs independently, with the important excep- 
tion of putting the nation under tribute to himself. In the 
articles of agreement between the sultan and the pasha of 
Egypt, it was stipulated that the Egyptians should pay annu- 
ally to the Turkish government a certain amount of gold and 
silver, and 1 six hundred thousand measures of corn, and four 
hundred thousand of barley.' " 

" The Libyans and the Ethiopians," " the Cushim" says 
Dr. Clarke, " the unconquered Arabs," who have sought the 
friendship of the Turks, and many of whom are tributary to 
them at the present time. 

Verse 44. But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall 
trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, 
and utterly to make away many. 

On this verse Dr. Clarke has a note which is worthy of 
mention. He says : " This part of the prophecy is allowed to 
be yet unfulfilled." His note was printed in 1825. In an- 
other portion of his comment, he says : " If the Turkish power 
be understood, as in the preceding verses, it may mean that the 
Persians on the east, and the Russians on the north, will at 



CHAPTER 11, VERSES kk, 



351 



some time greatly embarrass the Ottoman government." 

Between this conjecture of Dr. Clarke's, written in 1825, 
and the Crimean War of 1853-1856, there is certainly a 
striking coincidence, inasmuch as the very powers he men- 
tions, the Persians on the east and the Russians on the north, 
were the ones which instigated that conflict. Tidings from 
these powers troubled him (Turkey). Their attitude and 
movements incited the sultan to anger and revenge. Russia, 
being the more aggressive party, was the object of attack. 
Turkey declared war on her powerful northern neighbor in 
1853. The world looked on in amazement to see a govern- 
ment which had long been called " the Sick Man of the East," 
a government whose army was dispirited and demoralized, 
whose treasuries were empty, whose rulers were vile and imbe- 
cile, and whose subjects were rebellious and threatening seces- 
sion, rush with such impetuosity into the conflict. The proph- 
ecy said that they should go forth with " great fury ; " and 
when they thus went forth in the war aforesaid, they were 
described, in the profane vernacular of an American writer, 
as " fighting like devils." England and France, it is true, 
soon came to the help of Turkey; but she went forth in the 
manner described, and as is reported, gained important victo- 
ries before receiving the assistance of these powers. 

Verse 45. And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between 
the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, 
and none shall help him. 

We have now traced the prophecy of the 11th of Daniel 
down, step by step, and have thus far found events to fulfil 
all its predictions. It has all been wrought out into history 
except this last verse. The predictions of the preceding verse 
having been fulfilled within the memory of the generation now 
living, we are carried by this one past our own day into the 
future ; for no power has yet performed the acts here described. 
But it is to be fulfilled; and its fulfilment must be accom- 
plished by that power which has been continuously the subject 
of the prophecy from the 40th verse down to this 45th verse. 
If the application to Avhich we have given the preference in 



352 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



passing over these verses, is correct, we must look to Turkey 
to make the move here indicated. 

And let it be noted how readily this could be done. Pales- 
tine, which contains the " glorious holy mountain," the moun- 
tain on which Jerusalem stands, " between the seas,' 7 the Dead 
Sea and the Mediterranean, is a Turkish province ; and if the 
Turk should be obliged to retire hastily from Europe, he could 
easily go to any point within his own dominions to establish 
his temporary headquarters, here appropriately described as the 
tabernacles, movable dwellings, of his palace ; but he could not 
go beyond them. The most notable point within the limit of 
Turkey in Asia, is Jerusalem. 

And mark, also, how applicable the language to that .power: 
" He shall come to his end, and none shall help him." This 
expression plainly implies that this power has previously re- 
ceived help. And what are the facts ? — In the war against 
Trance in 1798 - 1801, England and Russia assisted the sultan. 
In the war between Turkey and Egypt in 1838 - 1840, England, 
Russia, Austria, and Prussia intervened in behalf of Turkey. 
In the Crimean War in 1853-1856, England, France, and 
Sardinia supported the Turks. And in the last Russo-Turkish 
War, the great powers of Europe interfered to arrest the prog- 
ress of Russia. And without the help received in all these 
instances, Turkey would probably have failed to maintain her 
position. And it is a notorious fact that since the fall of 
the Ottoman supremacy in 1840, the empire has existed only 
through the sufferance of the great powers of Europe. With- 
out their pledged support, she would not be long able to main- 
tain even a nominal existence; and when that is withdrawn, 
she must come to the ground. So the prophecy says the king 
comes to his end and none help him ; and he comes to his end, 
as we may naturally infer, because none help him, — because 
the support previously rendered is withdrawn. 

Have we any indications that this part of the prophecy is 
soon to be fulfilled ? As we raise this inquiry, we look, not to 
dim and distant ages in the past, whose events, so long ago 
transferred to the page of history, now interest only the few, 
but to the present living, moving world. Are the nations 



CHAPTER 11, VERSE 45 



353 



which are now on the stage of action, with their disciplined 
armies and their multiplied weapons of war, making any move- 
ment looking to this end ? 

All eyes are now turned with interest toward Turkey; and 
the unanimous opinion of statesmen is, that the Turk is des- 
tined soon to be driven from Europe. Some years since, a cor- 
respondent of- the ISTew York Tribune, writing from the East, 
said : " Russia is arming to the teeth ... to be avenged on 
Turkey. . . . Two campaigns of the Russian army will drive 
the Turks out of Europe/' Carleton, formerly a correspondent 
of the Boston Journal, writing from Paris under the heading 
of " The Eastern Question," said : — 

" The theme of conversation during the last week has not 
been concerning the Exposition, but the ' Eastern Question.' 
To what will it grow ? Will there be war \ What is Russia 
going to do ? What position are the Western powers going to 
take ? These are questions discussed not only in the cafes and 
restaurants, but in the Corps Legislatif. Perhaps I cannot ren- 
der better service at the present time than to group together 
some facts in regard to this question, which, according to pres- 
ent indications, are to engage the immediate attention of the 
world. What is the ' Eastern Question ' ? It is not easy to 
give a definition ; for to Russia it may mean one thing, to 
Erance another, and to Austria still another ; but sifted of 
every side issue, it may be reduced to this, — the driving of 
the Turk into Asia, and a scramble for his territory." 

Again he says : — 

" Surely the indications are that the sultan is destined soon 
to see the western border of his dominions break off, piece by 
piece. But what will follow ? Are Roumania, Servia, Bosnia, 
and Albania to set up as an independent sovereignty together, 
and take position among the nations ? or is there to be a grand 
rush for the estate of the Ottoman ? But that is of the future, 
a future not far distant/' 

Shortly after the foregoing extracts were written, an as- 
tonishing revolution took place in Europe. France, one of the 
parties, if not the chief one, in the alliance to uphold the Otto- 
man throne, was crushed by Prussia in the Franco-Prussian 



354 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



war of 1870. Prussia, another party, was too much in sym- 
pathy with Russia to interfere with her movements against the 
Turk. England, a third, in an embarrassed condition finan- 
cially, could not think of entering into any contest in behalf of 
Turkey without the alliance of France. Austria had not re- 
covered from the blow she received in her preceding war with 
Prussia ; and Italy was busy with the matter of stripping the 
pope of his temporal power, and making Pome the capital of 
the nation. A writer in the Few York Tribune remarked that 
if Turkey should become involved in difficulty with Russia, she 
could count on the prompt " assistance of Austria, France, and 
England." But none of these powers, nor any others who 
would be likely to assist Turkey, were at the time referred to 
in any condition to do so, owing principally to the sudden and 
unexpected humiliation of the French nation, as stated above. 

Russia then saw that her opportunity had come. She ac- 
cordingly startled all the powers of Europe in the fall of the 
same memorable year, 1870, by stepping forth and deliberately 
announcing that she designed to regard no longer the stipula- 
tions of the treaty of 1856. This treaty, concluded at the 
termination of the Crimean war, restricted the warlike opera- 
tions of Russia in the" Black Sea. But Russia must have the 
privilege of using those waters for military purposes, if she 
would carry out her designs against Turkey; hence her deter- 
mination to disregard that treaty just at the time when none of 
the powers were in a condition to enforce it. 

The ostensible reason urged by Russia for her movements 
in this direction, was, that she might have a sea front and har- 
bors in a warmer climate than the shores of the Baltic; but 
the real design was against Turkey. Thus the Churchman, of 
Hartford, Conn., in an able article on the present " European 
Medley," states that Russia in her encroachments upon Turkey, 
" is not merely seeking a sea frontier, and harbors lying on 
the great highways of commerce, unclosed by arctic winters, but 
that, with a feeling akin to that which inspired the Crusades, 
she is actuated by an intense desire to drive the Crescent from 
the soil of Europe." 

This desire on the part of Russia has been cherished as a 




PETER THE GREAT 



CHAPTER 11, VERSE 1$ 



357 



sacred legacy since the days of Peter the Great. That famous 
prince, becoming sole emperor of Russia in 1688, at the age of 
sixteen, enjoyed a prosperous reign of thirty-seven years, to 
1725, and left to his successors a celebrated " last will and 
testament/' imparting certain important instructions for their 
constant observance. The 9th article of that " will " enjoined 
the following policy: — 

" To take every possible means of gaining Constantinople 
and the Indies (for he who rules there will be the true sover- 
eign of the world) ; excite war continually in Turkey and 
Persia ; establish fortresses in the Black Sea ; get control of 
the sea by degrees, and also of the Baltic, which is a double 
point, necessary to the realization of our project; accelerate as 
much as possible the decay of Persia ; penetrate to the Persian 
Gulf; re-establish, if possible, by the way of Syria, the ancient 
commerce of the Levant ; advance to the Indies, which are the 
great depot of the world. Once there, we can do without the 
gold of England." 

The eleventh article reads: " Interest the House of Austria 
in the expulsion of the Turks from Europe, and quiet their 
dissensions at the moment of the conquest of Constantinople 
(having excited war among the old states of Europe), by giv- 
ing to Austria a portion of the conquest, which afterward will 
or can be reclaimed." 

The following facts in Russian history will show how per- 
sistently this line of policy has been followed : — 

" In 1696, Peter the Great wrested the Sea of Azov from 
the Turks, and kept it. 'Next, Catherine the Great won the 
Crimea. In 1812, by the peace of Bucharest, Alexander I 
obtained Moldavia, and the prettily-named province of Bess- 
arabia, with its apples, peaches, and cherries. Then came the 
great Nicholas, who won the right of the free navigation of the 
Black Sea, the Dardanelles, and the Danube, but whose inor- 
dinate greed led him into the Crimean war, by which he lost 
Moldavia, and the right of navigating the Danube, and the 
unrestricted navigation of the Black Sea. This was no doubt a 
severe repulse to Russia, but it did not extinguish the designs 
upon the Ottoman power, nor did it contribute in any essential 
23 



358 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



degree to the stability of the Ottoman empire. Patiently bid- 
ing her time, Russia has been watching and waiting, and in 
1870, when all the Western nations were watching the Franco- 
Prussian war, she announced to the powers that she would be 
no longer bound by the treaty of 1856, which restricted her use 
of the Black Sea ; and since that time that sea has been, as it 
was one thousand years ago, to all intents and purposes, a 
mare Russicum." — 8 an Francisco Chronicle. 

Napoleon Bonaparte well understood the designs of Russia, 
and the importance of her contemplated movements. While a 
prisoner on the island of St. Helena, in conversation with his 
governor, Sir Hudson Lowe, he gave utterance to the following 
opinion : — ■ 

" In the course of a few years, Russia will have Constanti- 
nople, part of Turkey, and all of Greece. This I hold to be as 
certain as if it had already taken place. All the cajolery and 
flattery that Alexander practiced upon me was to gain my con- 
sent to effect that object. I would not give it, foreseeing that 
the equilibrium of Europe would be destroyed. Once mistress 
of Constantinople, Russia gets all the commerce of the Medi- 
terranean, becomes a naval power, and then God knows what 
may happen. The object of my invasion of Russia was to pre- 
vent this, by the interposition between her and Turkey of a 
new state, which I meant to call into existence as a barrier to 
her Eastern encroachments." 

Kossuth, also, took the same view of the political board, 
when he said, " In Turkey will be decided the fate of the 
world." 

The words of Bonaparte, quoted above, in reference to the 
destruction of " the equilibrium of Europe," reveal the motive 
which has induced the great powers to tolerate so long the ex- 
istence on the Continent of a nation which is false in religion, 
destitute of humanity, and a disgrace to modern civilization. 
Constantinople is regarded, by general consent, as the grand 
strategic point of Europe ; and the powers have each sagacity or 
jealousy enough to see, or think they see, the fact that if any 
one of the European powers gains permanent possession of that 
point, as Russia desires to do, that power will be able to dictate 



CHAPTER 11, VERSE 1+5 



359 



terms to the rest of Europe. This position no one of the powers 
is willing that any other power should possess ; and the only 
apparent way to prevent it is for them all to combine, by tacit 
or express agreement, to keep each other out, and suffer the 
unspeakable Turk to drag along his sickly Asiatic existence on 
the soil of Europe. This is preserving that " balance of 
power " over which they are all so sensitive. But this cannot 
•always continue. " He shall come to his end, and none shall 
help him." The sick man seems determined to reduce him- 
self most speedily to such a degree of offensiveness that Europe 
will be obliged to drive him into Asia, as a matter of safety 
to its own civilization. 

When Russia, in 1870, announced her intention to disregard 
the treaty of 1856, the other powers, though incapable of doing 
anything, nevertheless, as Avas becoming their ideas of their own 
importance, made quite a show of offended dignity. A con- 
gress of nations was demanded, and the demand was granted. 
The congress was held, and proved, as everybody expected it 
would prove, simply a farce so far as restraining Russia was 
concerned. The San Francisco Chronicle of March, 1871. had 
this paragraph touching " The Eastern-Question Congress : " — 

" It is quite evident that, as far as directing or controlling 
the action of the Muscovite government is concerned, the con- 
gress is little better than a farce. England originated the idea 
of the congress, simply because it afforded her an opportunity 
of abandoning, without actual dishonor, a position she had as- 
sumed rather too hastily, and Russia was complacent enough 
to join in the ' little game/ feeling satisfied that she would lose 
nothing by her courtesy. Turkey is the only aggrieved party 
in this dexterous arrangement. She is left face to face with 
her hereditary and implacable enemy ; for the nations that pre- 
viously assisted her, ostensibly through friendship and love of 
justice, but really through motives of self-interest, have evaded 
the challenge so openly flung into the arena by the ^Northern 
Colossus. It is easy to foresee the end of this conference. 
Russia will get all she requires, another step will be taken to- 
ward the realization of Peter the Great's will, and the sultan 



360 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



will receive a foretaste of his apparently inevitable doom — - 
expulsion from Europe." 

From that point the smouldering fires of the " Eastern Ques- 
tion " continued to agitate and alarm the nations of Europe, till 
in 1877 the flames burst forth anew. On the 24th of April in 
that year, Russia declared war against Turkey, ostensibly to de- 
fend the Christians against the inhuman barbarity of the Turks, 
really to make another trial to carry out her long-cherished 
determination to drive the Turk from Europe. The events 
and the results of that war of 1877 -1878, are of such recent 
date that the general reader can easily recall them. It was 
evident from the first that Turkey was overmatched. Russia 
pushed her approaches till the very outposts of Constantinople 
were occupied by her forces. But diplomacy on the part of 
the alarmed nations of Europe again stepped in to suspend for 
awhile the contest. The Berlin Congress was held Jan. 25, 
1878. Turkey agreed to sign conditions of peace. The condi- 
tions were that the straits of the Dardanelles should be open to 
Russian ships ; that the Russians should occupy Batoum, Kars, 
and Erzeroum; that Turkey should pay Russia £20,000,000 
sterling (nearly $100,000,000), as a war indemnity; and that 
the treaty should be signed at Constantinople. In making this 
announcement, the Allegemeine Zeitung added: " The eventual 
entry of the Russians into Constantinople cannot longer be re- 
garded as impracticable." 

The Detroit Evening News of Feb. 20, 1878, said: — 
"According to the latest version of the peace conditions, 
Turkey — ■ besides her territorial losses, the surrender of a few 
ironclads, the repairs of the mouth of the Danube, the reim- 
bursement of Russian capital invested in Turkish securities, the 
indemnity to Russian subjects in Constantinople for war losses, 
and the maintenance of about 100,000 prisoners of war — will 
have to pay Russia, in round figures, a sum equivalent to 
about $552,000,000 in our money. The unestimated items 
will easily increase this to six hundred million. With her tax- 
able territory reduced almost to poverty-stricken Asia Minor, 
and with her finances at present in a condition of absolute 
chaos, it is difficult to see where she is going to get the money, 



CHAPTER 11, VERSE 1+5 



363 



however ready her present rulers may be to sign the contract. 

" The proposition amounts to giving the czar a permanent 
mortgage on the whole empire, and contains an implied threat 
that he may foreclose at any time, by the seizure of the remain- 
der of European Turkey. In this last aspect all Europe has 
a vital interest in the matter, and particularly England, even 
if the conditions were not in themselves calculated to drive 
English creditors crazy, by destroying their last hope of ever 
getting a cent of their large investments in Turkish bonds. It 
makes Russia a preferred creditor of the bankrupt Porte, with 
the additional advantage of being assignee in possession, leaving 
creditors with prior claims out in the cold." 

The following paragraph taken from the Philadelphia Pub- 
lic Ledger, August, 1878, sets forth an instructive and very 
suggestive exhibit of the shrinkage of Turkish territory within 
the past sixty years, and especially as the result of the war 
of 1877:— 

"Any one who will take the trouble to look at a map of 
Turkey in Europe dating back about sixty years, and compare 
that with the new map sketched by the treaty of San Stefano 
as modified by the Berlin Congress, will be able to form a judg- 
ment of the march of progress that is pressing the Ottoman 
power out of Europe. Then, the northern boundary of Turkey 
extended to the Carpathian Mountains, and eastward of the 
River Sereth it embraced Moldavia as far north nearly as the 
47th degree of north latitude. That map embraced also what is 
now the kingdom of Greece. It covered all of Servia and Bos- 
nia. But by the year 1830 the northern frontier of Turkey was 
driven back from the Carpathians to the south bank of the 
Danube, the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia being 
emancipated from Turkish dominion, and subject only to the 
payment of an annual tribute in money to the Porte. South of 
the Danube, the Servians had won a similar emancipation for 
their country. Greece also had been enabled to establish her 
independence. Then, as recently, the Turk was truculent and 
obstinate. Russia and Great Britain proposed to make Greece 
a tributary state, retaining the sovereignty of the Porte. This 
was refused, and the result was the utter destruction of the 



364 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



powerful Turkish fleet at Navarino, aud the erection of the in- 
dependent kingdom of Greece. Thus Turkey in Europe was 
pressed back on all sides. Now, the northern boundary, which 
was so recently at the Danube, has been driven south to the 
Balkans. Roumania and- Servia have ceased even to be tribu- 
tary, and have taken their place among independent states.- 
Bosnia has gone under the protection of Austria, as Roumania 
did under that of Russia in 1829. 6 Rectified ? boundaries give 
Turkish territory to Servia, Montenegro, and Greece. Bulgaria 
takes the place of Roumania as a self-governing principality, 
having no dependence on the Porte, and paying only an annual 
tribute. Even south of the Balkans the power of the Turk is 
crippled, for Roumelia is to have ' home rule ' under a Chris- 
tian governor. And so again the frontier of Turkey in Europe 
is pressed back on all sides, until the territory left is but the 
shadow of what it was sixty years ago. To produce this re- 
sult has been the policy and the battle of Russia for more than 
half a century; for nearly that space of time it has been the 
struggle of some of the other i powers ' to maintain the ' integ- 
rity ' of the Turkish empire. Which policy has succeeded, and 
which failed, a comparison of maps at intervals of twenty-five 
years will show. Turkey in Europe has been shriveled up in 
the last half century. It is shrinking back and back toward 
Asia, and, though all the £ powers ' but Russia should unite 
their forces to maintain the Ottoman system in Europe, there 
is a manifest destiny visible in the history of the last fifty 
years that must defeat them." 

A correspondent of the Christian Union, writing from Con- 
stantinople under date of Oct. 8, 1878, said: — 

u When we consider the difficulties which now beset this 
feeble and tottering government, the only ivonder is that it can 
stand for a day. Aside from the funded debt of $1,000,000,- 
000 upon which it pays no interest, it has an enormous floating 
debt representing all the expenses of the war ; its employees are 
unpaid ; its army has not been disbanded or even reduced ; and 
its paper money has become almost worthless. The people 
have lost heart, and expect every day some new revolution or 



CHAPTER 11, VERSE 45 



365 



a renewal of the war. The government does not know which 
to distrust most, its friends or its enemies." 

Since 1878 the tendency of all movements in the East has 
been in the same direction, foreboding greater pressure upon 
the Turkish government in the direction of its expulsion from 
the soil of Europe. The occupation of Egypt by the English, 
which took place in 1883^ is another step toward the inevitable 
result, and furnishes a movement which the Independent, of 
Xew York, ventures to call " the beginning of the end." 

In 1895 the world was startled by the report of the terrible 
atrocities inflicted by the Turks and Kurds upon the Arme- 
nians. Reliable reports show that many thousands have been 
slaughtered, with every circumstance of fiendish cruelty. The 
nations through their ambassadors protest and threaten ; the 
sultan promises, but does nothing. He evidently has not the 
disposition, if he has the power, to stay the tide of blood. 
Fanatical Moslems seem seized with a frenzy to destroy all the 
Armenian men and take their wives and children to slavery or 
a more lamentable fate. Thousands of widows and orphans, 
left to wander in the mountains of Armenia, perished of cold 
and hunger. A thrill of horror ran through Christendom, 
and a cry rose from all lands, Let the Turk be driven out, and 
come to his end ! And yet the selfishness of the nations, and 
their jealousy of each other, restrained their hands from ar- 
resting this carnival of slaughter and ruin, by unseating the 
terrible Turk. How long, 0 Lord, how long ? 

Thus all evidence goes to show that the Turk must soon leave 
Europe. Where will he then plant the tabernacles of his palace % 
In Jerusalem ? That certainly is the most probable point. 
Newton on the Prophecies, p. 318, says: " Between the .seas in 
the glorious holy mountain must denote, as we have shown, 
some part of the Holy Land. There the Turk shall encamp 
with all his powers ; yet he 6 shall come to his end, and none 
shall help him,' — shall help him effectually, or deliver him." 

Time will soon determine this matter; and it may be but 
a few months. And when this takes place, what follows? — 
Events of the most momentous interest to all the inhabitants 
of this world, as the next chapter immediately shows. 



CHAPTEE XII. 



Verse 1. And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince 
which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a 
time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to 
that same time : and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every 
one that shall be found written in the book. 

A DEFINITE time is introduced in this verse, not a 



time revealed in names or figures which . specify any 



particular year or month or day, but a time made 
definite by the occurrence of a certain event with which it 
stands connected. "At that time." What time ? — The time 
to which we are brought by the closing verse of the preceding 
chapter, — the time when the king of the north shall plant the 
tabernacles of his palace in the glorious holy mountain ; or, 
in other words, when the Turk, driven from Europe, shall 
hastily make Jerusalem his temporary seat of government. We 
noticed, in remarks upon the latter portion, of the preceding 
chapter, some of the agencies already in operation for the ac- 
complishment of this end, and some of the indications that the 
Turk will very soon he obliged to make this move. And when 
this event takes place, he is to come to his end; and then, ac- 
cording to this verse, we look for the standing up of Michael, 




(366) 



CHAPTER 12, VERSE 1 



367 



the great prince. This movement on the part of Turkey is 
the signal for the standing up of Michael ; that is, it marks 
this event as next in order. And to guard against all mis- 
understanding, let the reader note that the position is not here 
taken that the next movement against the Turks will drive 
them from Europe, or that when they shall establish their cap- 
ital at Jerusalem, Christ begins his reign without the lapse of 
a day or an hour of time. But here are the events, to come, 
as we believe, in the following order: (1) Further pressure 
brought to bear in some way upon the Turk; (2) His retire- 
ment from Europe; (3) His final stand at Jerusalem; (1) 
The standing up of Michael, or the beginning of the reign of 
Christ, and his coming in the clouds of heaven. And it is 
not reasonable to suppose that any great amount of time will 
elapse between these events. 

Who, then, is Michael ? and what is his standing up ? — 
Michael is called, in Jude 9, the " archangel." This means 
the chief angel, or the head over the angels. There is but one. 
Who is he ? — He is the one whose voice is heard from heaven 
when the dead are raised. 1 Thess. 4: 16. And whose voice 
is heard in connection with that event '? — The voice of our 
Lord Jesus Christ. John 5:28. Tracing back the evidence 
with this fact as a basis, we reach the following conclusions : 
The voice of the Son of God is the voice of the archangel; 
the archangel, then, is the Son of God, but the archangel is 
Michael ; hence also Michael is the Son of God. The expres- 
sion of Daniel, " The great prince which standeth for the chil- 
dren of thy people," is alone sufficient to identify the one here 
spoken of as the Saviour of men. He is the Prince of life 
(Acts 3 : 15) ; and God hath exalted him to be a " Prince and 
a Saviour." Acts 5 : 31. He is the great Prince. There is 
no one greater, save the sovereign Father. 

And he " standeth for the children of thy people." He 
condescends to take the servants of God in this poor mortal 
state, and redeem them for the subjects of his future kingdom. 
He stands for us. His people are essential to his future pur- 
poses, an inseparable part of the purchased inheritance; and 
they are to be the chief agents of that joy in view of which 



368 PROPHECY OF DANIEL 

Christ endured all the sacrifice and suffering which have 
marked his intervention in behalf of the fallen race. Amaz- 
ing honor! Be everlasting gratitude repaid him for his con- 
descension and mercy unto us ! Be his the kingdom, power, 
and glory, forever and ever ! 

We now come to the second question, What is the standing 
up of Michael ? The key to the interpretation of this expres- 
sion is furnished us in verses 2 and 3 of chapter 11 : " There 
shall stand up yet three kings in Persia ; " "A mighty king 
shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion." There 
can he no doubt as to the meaning of these expressions in these 
instances. They signify to take the kingdom, to reign. The 
same expression in the verse under consideration must mean 
the same. At that time, Michael shall stand up, shall take 
the kingdom, shall commence to reign. 

But is not Christ reigning now ? — Yes, associated with his 
Father on the throne of universal dominion. Eph. 1 : 20 - 22 ; 
Rev. 3 : 21. But this throne, or kingdom, he gives up at the 
end of this dispensation (1 Cor. 15:21); and then he com- 
mences his reign brought to view in the text, when he stands 
up, or takes his own kingdom, the long-promised throne of his 
father David, and establishes a dominion of which there shall 
be no end. Luke 1 : 32, 33. 

An examination of all the events that constitute, or are in- 
separably connected with, this change in the position of our 
Lord, does not come within the scope of this work. Suffice it 
to say that then the kingdoms of this world become the king- 
dom " of our Lord and of his Christ." His priestly robes are 
laid aside for royal vesture. The work of mercy is done, and 
the probation of our race is ended. Then he that is filthy is 
beyond hope of recovery; and he that is holy is beyond the 
danger of falling. All cases are decided. And from that 
time on, till the terrified nations behold the majestic form of 
their insulted King in the clouds of heaven, the nations are 
broken as with a rod of iron, and dashed in pieces like a pot- 
ter's vessel, by a time of trouble such as never was, a series 
of judgments unparalleled in the world's history, culminating 
in the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ from heaven in nam- 



CHAPTER 12, VERSE 1 



369 



ing fire, to take vengeance on them that know not God, and 
obey not the gospel. 2 Thess. 1 : 7, 8 ; Eev. 11 : 15 ; 22 : 11, 12. 

Thus momentous are the events introduced by the standing 
up of Michael. And he thus stands up, or takes the kingdom, 
marking the introduction of this decisive period in human his- 
tory, for some length of time before he returns personally to 
this earth. How important, then, that we have a knowledge 
of his position, that we may be able to trace the progress of 
his work, and understand when that thrilling moment draws 
near which ends his intercession in behalf of mankind, and 
fixes the destiny of all forever. 

But how are we to know this ? How are we to determine 
what is transpiring in the far-off heaven of heavens, in the 
sanctuary above ? — God has been so good as to place the 
means of knowing this is our hands. When certain great 
events take place on earth, he has told us what events synchro- 
nizing with them occur in heaven. By things which are seen, 
we thus learn of things that are unseen. As we " look through 
nature up to nature's God," so through terrestrial phenomena 
and events we trace great movements in the heavenly world. 
When the king of the north plants the tabernacles of his pal- 
ace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain, a movement 
for which we already behold the initial steps, then Michael, 
our Lord, stands up, or receives from his Father the kingdom, 
preparatory to his return to this earth. Or it might have 
been expressed in words like these : Then our Lord ceases his 
work as our great High Priest, and the probation of the world 
is finished. The great prophecy of the 2300 days gives us 
definitely the commencement of the final division of the work 
in the sanctuary in heaven. The verse before us gives us data 
whereby we can discover approximately the time of its close. 

In connection with the standing up of Michael, there occurs 
a time of trouble such as never was. In Matt. 24: 21 we read 
of a period of tribulation such as never was before it, nor 
should be after it. This tribulation, fulfilled in the oppression 
and slaughter of the church by the papal power, is already 
past; while the time of trouble of Dan. 12: 1, is, according to 
the view we take, still future. How can there be two times of 



370 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



trouble, many years apart, each of them greater than any that 
had been before it, or should be after it ? To avoid difficulty 
here, let this distinction be carefully noticed: The tribulation 
spoken of in Matthew is tribulation upon the church. Christ 
is there speaking to his disciples, and of his disciples in com- 
ing time. They were the ones involved, and for their sake the 
days of tribulation were to be shortened. Yerse 22. Whereas, 
the time of trouble mentioned in Daniel is not a time of relig- 
ious persecution, but of national calamity. There has been 
nothing like it since there was — not a church, but — a nation. 
This comes upon the world. This is the last trouble to come 
upon the world in its present state. In Matthew there is refer- 
ence made to time beyond that tribulation ; for after that was 
past, there was never to be any like it upon the people of God. 
But there is no reference here in Daniel to future time after 
the trouble here mentioned; for this closes up this world's his- 
tory. It includes the seven last plagues of Revelation 16, and 
culminates in the revelation of the Lord Jesus, coming upon 
his pathway of clouds in naming fire, to visit destruction upon 
his enemies who would not have him to reign over them. But 
out of this tribulation every one shall be delivered who shall be 
found written in the book — the book of life ; " for in Mount 
Zion . . . shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in 
the remnant whom the Lord shall call." Joel 2 : 32. 

Verse 2. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth 
shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and ever- 
lasting contempt. 

This verse also shows how momentous a period is intro- 
duced by the standing up of Michael, or the commencement of 
the reign of Christ, as set forth in the first verse of this chap- 
ter; for the event here described in explicit terms is a resur- 
rection of the dead. Is this the general resurrection which 
takes place at the second coming of Christ ? or is there to inter- 
vene between Christ's reception of the kingdom and his revela- 
tion to earth in all his advent glory (Luke 21: 27) a special 
resurrection answering to the description here given ? One of 
these it must be ; for every declaration of Scripture will be 
fulfilled. 



CHAPTER 12, VERSE 2 



371 



Why may it not be the former, or the resurrection which 
occurs at the last trump ? Answer : Because only the right- 
eous, to the exclusion of all the wicked, have part in that 
resurrection. Those who sleep in Christ then come forth ; but 
they only, for the rest of the dead live not again for a thou- 
sand years. Rev. 20 : 5. So, then, the general resurrection of 
the whole race is comprised in two grand divisions, first, of the 
righteous exclusively, at the coming of Christ ; secondly, of the 
wicked exclusively, a thousand years thereafter. The general 
resurrection is not a mixed resurrection. The righteous and 
the wicked do not come up promiscuously at the same time. 
But each of these two classes is set off by itself, and the time 
which elapses between their respective resurrections is plainly 
stated to be a thousand years. 

But in the resurrection brought to view in the verse before 
us, many of both righteous and wicked come up together. It 
cannot therefore be the first resurrection, which includes the 
righteous only, nor the second resurrection, which is as dis- 
tinctly confined to the wicked. If the text read, Many of them 
that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake to everlasting 
life, then the " many " might be interpreted as including all 
the righteous, and the resurrection be that of the just at the 
second coming of Christ. But the fact that some of the many 
are wicked, and rise to shame and everlasting contempt, bars 
the way to such an application. 

It may be objected that this text does not affirm the awak- 
ening of any but the righteous, according to the translation of 
Bush and Whiting ; namely, "And many of them that sleep in 
the dust of the earth shall awake, these to everlasting life, and 
those to shame and everlasting contempt." It will be noticed, 
first of all, that this translation (which is not by any means 
above criticism) proves nothing till the evident ellipsis is sup- 
plied. This ellipsis some therefore undertake to supply as 
follows: "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the 
earth shall awake, these [the awakened ones] to everlasting 
life, and those [the unawakened ones] to shame and everlasting 
contempt." It will be noticed, again, that this does not supply 
the ellipses, but only adds a comment, which is a very different 



372 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



thing. To supply the elipsis is simply to insert those words 
which are necessary to complete the sentence. " Many of 
them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake," is a 
complete sentence. The subject and predicate are both ex- 
pressed. The next member, " Some [or these] to everlasting 
life," is not complete. What is wanted to complete it ? Not a 
comment, giving some one's opinion as to who are intended by 
" these," but a verb of which these shall be the subject. What 
verb shall it be ? This must be determined by the preceding 
portion of the sentence, which is complete, where the verb shall 
awake is used. This, then, is the predicate to be supplied: 
u Some [or these] shall awake to everlasting life." Applying 
the same rule to the next member, " Some [or those] to shame 
and everlasting contempt," which is not in itself a complete 
sentence, we find ourselves obliged to supply the same words, 
and read it, " Some [or those] shall awake to shame and ever- 
lasting contempt." Anything less than this will not complete 
the sense, and anything different will pervert the text; for a 
predicate to be supplied cannot go beyond one already ex- 
pressed. The affirmation made in the text pertains only to 
the many who awake. Nothing is affirmed of the rest who do 
not then awake. And to say that the expression " to shame 
and everlasting contempt " applies to them, when nothing is 
affirmed of them, is not only to outrage the sense of the pas- 
sage, but the laws of language as well. And of the many who 
awake, some come forth to everlasting life, and some to shame 
and everlasting contempt, which further proves a resurrection 
to consciousness for these also ; for while contempt may be felt 
and manifested by others toward those who are guilty, shame 
can be felt and manifested only by the guilty parties them- 
selves. This resurrection, therefore, as already shown, com- 
prises some of both righteous and wicked, and cannot be the 
general resurrection at the last day. 

Is there, then, any place for a special or limited resurrec- 
tion, or elsewhere any intimation of such an event, before the 
Lord appears ? The resurrection here predicted takes place 
when God's people are delivered from the great time of trouble 
with which the history of this world terminates ; and it seems 



CHAPTER 12, VERSE 2 



373 



from Rev. 22 : 11 that this deliverance is given before the Lord 
appears. The awful moment arrives when he that is filthy and 
unjust is pronounced unjust still, and he that is righteous 
and holy is pronounced holy still. Then the cases of all are 
forever decided. And when this sentence is pronounced upon 
the righteous, it must be deliverance to them'; for then they are 
placed beyond all reach of danger or fear of evil. But the 
Lord has not at that time made his appearance ; for he imme- 
diately adds, "And, behold, I come quickly." The utterance 
of this solemn fiat which seals the righteous to everlasting life, 
and the wicked to eternal death, is supposed to be synchronous 
with the great voice which is heard from the throne in the tem- 
ple of heaven, saying, " It is done ! " Rev. 16 : 17. And this 
is evidently the voice of God, so often alluded to in descriptions 
of the scenes connected with the last day. Joel speaks of it, 
and says (chapter 3:16): " The Lord also shall roar out of 
Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem ; and the heavens and 
the earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the hope of his 
people, and the strength of the children of Israel." The mar- 
gin reads instead of " hope," " place of repair, or harbor." 
Then at this time, when God's voice is heard from heaven 
just previous to the coming of the Son of man, God is a harbor 
for his people, or, which is the same thing, provides them de- 
liverance. Here, then, at the voice of God, when the deci- 
sions of eternity are pronounced upon the race, and the last 
stupendous scene is just to open upon a doomed world, God 
gives to the astonished nations another evidence and pledge of 
his power, and raises from the dead a multitude who have long 
slept in the dust of the earth. 

Thus we see that there is a time and place for the resurrec- 
tion of Dan. 12 : 2. We now add that a passage in the book of 
Revelation makes it necessary to suppose a resurrection of this 
kind to take place. Rev. 1 : 7 reads : " Behold, he cometh with 
clouds [this is unquestionably the second advent] ; and every 
eye shall see him [of the nations then living on the earth], and 
they also which pierced him [those who took an active part in 
the terrible work of his crucifixion] ; and all kindreds of the 
earth shall wail because of him." Those who crucified the 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



Lord, would, unless there was an exception made In their cases, 
remain in their graves till the end of the thousand years, and 
come up in the general assembly of the wicked at that time. 
But here it is stated that they behold the Lord at his second 
advent. They must therefore have a special resurrection for 
that purpose. 

And it is certainly most appropriate that some who were 
eminent in holiness, who labored and suffered for their hope 
of a coming Saviour, but died without the sight, should be 
raised a little before, to witness the scenes attending his glo- 
rious epiphany ; as, in like manner, a goodly company came out 
of their graves at his resurrection to behold his risen glory 
(Matt. 27: 52, 53), and to escort him in triumph to the right 
hand of the throne of the majesty on high (Eph. 4:8, mar- 
gin) ; and also that some, eminent in wickedness, who have 
done most to reproach the name of Christ and injure his cause, 
and especially those who secured his cruel death upon the cross, 
and mocked and derided him in his dying agonies, should be 
raised, as part of their judicial punishment, to behold his re- 
turn in the clouds of heaven, a celestial victor, in, to them, 
unendurable majesty and splendor. 

One more remark upon this text before passing on. What 
is here said is supposed by some to furnish good evidence of 
the eternal conscious suffering of the wicked, because those of 
this character who are spoken of come forth to shame and ever- 
lasting contempt. How can they forever suffer these, unless 
they are forever conscious ? It has already been stated that 
shame implies their consciousness; but it will be noticed that 
this is not said to be everlasting. This qualifying word is not 
inserted till we come to the contempt, which is an emotion felt 
by others toward the guilty parties, and does not render nec- 
essary the consciousness of those against whom it is directed. 
And so some read the passage : " Some to shame, and the ever- 
lasting contempt of their companions." And so it will be. 
Shame for their wickedness and corruption will burn into their 
very souls, so long as they have conscious being. And when 
they pass away, consumed for their iniquities, their loathsome 
characters and their guilty deeds excite only contempt on the 



CHAPTER 12, VERSES %, 3 



375 



part of all the righteous, unmodified and unabated so long as 
they hold them in remembrance at all. The text therefore fur- 
nishes no proof of the eternal suffering of the wicked. 

Verse 3. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of 
the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the 
stars forever and ever. 

The margin reads " teachers " in place of " wise." And 
they that be teachers shall shine as the brightness of the firma- 
ment; that is, of course, those who teach the truth, and lead 
others to a knowledge of it, just previous to the time when the 
events recorded in the foregoing verses are to be fulfilled. 
And as the world estimates loss and profit, it costs something 
to be teachers of these things in these days. It costs repu- 
tation, ease, comfort, and often property; it involves labors, 
crosses, sacrifices, loss of friendship, ridicule, and, not infre- 
quently, persecution. And the question is often asked, How 
can you afford it ? How can you afford to keep the Sabbath, 
and perhaps lose a situation, reduce your income, or it may 
be even hazard your means of support ? O blind, deluded, 
sordid question ! 0 what shortsightedness, to make obedience 
to what God requires a matter of pecuniary consideration! 
How unlike is this to the noble martyrs, who loved not their 
lives unto the death ! ~No ; the affording is all on the other 
side. When God commands, we cannot afford to disobey. 
And if we are asked, How can you afford to keep the Sabbath, 
and do other duties involved in rendering obedience to the 
truth ? we have only to ask in reply, How can you afford not to 
do them ? And in the coming day, when those who have sought 
to save their lives shall lose them, and those who have been 
willing to hazard all for the sake of the truth and its divine 
Lord, shall receive the glorious reward promised in the text, 
and be raised up to shine as the firmament, and as the imper- 
ishable stars forever and ever, it will then be seen who have 
been wise, and who, on the contrary, have made the choice of 
blindness and folly. The wicked and worldly now look upon 
Christians as fools and madmen, and congratulate themselves 
upon their superior shrewdness in shunning what they call their 
24 



376 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



folly, and avoiding their losses. We need make no response; 
for those who now render this decision will soon themselves 
reverse it, and that with terrible though unavailing earnestness. 

Meanwhile, it is the Christian's privilege to revel in the 
consolations of this marvelous promise. A conception of its 
magnitude can be gathered only from the stellar worlds them- 
selves. What are these stars, in the likeness of which the 
teachers of righteousness are to shine forever and ever ? How 
much of brightness, and majesty, and length of days, is in- 
volved in this comparison ? 

The sun of our own solar system is one of these stars. 
If we compare it with this globe upon which we live (our 
handiest standard of measurement), we find it an orb of no 
small magnitude and magnificence. Our earth is 8,000 miles 
in diameter; but the sun's diameter is 885,680 miles. In size 
it is one and a half million times larger than our globe; and 
in the matter of its substance, it would balance three hundred 
and fifty-two thousand worlds like ours. What immensity 
is this ! 

Yet this is far from being the largest or the brightest of 
the orbs which drive their shining chariots in myriads through 
the heavens. His proximity (he being only some ninety-five 
million miles from us) gives him with us a controlling pres- 
ence and influence. But far away in the depths of space, 
so far that they appear like mere points of light, blaze other 
orbs of vaster size and greater glory. The nearest fixed star, 
Alpha Centauri, in the southern hemisphere, is found, by the 
accuracy and efficiency of modern instruments, to be nineteen 
thousand million miles away; but the pole-star system is fif- 
teen times as remote, or two hundred and eighty-five thou- 
sand million miles; and it shines with a luster equal to that 
of eighty-six of our suns; others are still larger, as, for in- 
stance, Vega, which emits the light of three hundred and 
forty-four of our suns ; Capella, four hundred and thirty ; 
Arcturus, five hundred and sixteen ; and so on, till at last 
we reach the great star Alcyone, in the constellation of the 
Pleiades, which floods the celestial spaces with a brilliancy 
twelve thousand times that of the ponderous orb which lights 



CHAPTER 12, VERSE 3 



377 



and controls our solar system ! Why, then, does it not appear 
more luminous to us ? — Ah ! its distance is twenty-five million 
diameters of the earth's orbit; and the latter is one hundred 
and ninety million miles! Figures are weak to express such 
distances. It will be sufficient to say that its glowing light 
must traverse space as only light travels, — 192,000 miles a 
second, — for a period of more than seven hundred years, be- 
fore it reaches this distant world of ours! 

Some of these monarchs of the skies rule singly, like our 
own sun. Some are double; that is, what appears to us like 
one star is found to consist of two stars — two suns with their 
retinue of planets, revolving around each other; others are 
triple, some are quadruple; and one, at least, is sextuple. 

Besides this, they show all the colors of the rainbow. 
Some systems are white, some blue, some red, some yellow, 
some green; and this means different-colored days for the 
planets of those systems. Castor gives his planets green days. 
The double pole-star gives his yellow. In some, the different 
suns belonging to the same system are variously colored. Says 
Dr. Burr, in his Ecce Coelum, p. 136: "And, as if to make 
that Southern Cross the fairest object in all the heavens, we 
find in it a group of more than a hundred variously colored 
red, green, blue, and bluish-green suns, so closely thronged 
together as to appear in a powerful telescope like a superb 
bouquet, or piece of fancy jewelry." 

And what of the age of these glorious bodies % A few years 
pass away, and all things earthly gather the mold of age, and 
the odor of decay. How much in this world has perished 
entirely! But the stars shine on as fresh as in the beginning. 
Centuries and cycles have gone by, kingdoms have arisen and 
slowly passed away; we go back beyond the dim and shadowy 
horizon of history, go back even to the earliest moment intro- 
duced by revelation, when order was evoked out of chaos, and 
the morning stars sang together, and the sons of God shouted 
for joy — even then the stars were on their stately marches, 
and how long before this we know not ; for astronomers tell us 
of nebube lying on the farthest outposts of telescopic vision, 
whose light in its never-ceasing flight would consume five mil- 



378 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



lion years in reaching this planet. So ancient are these stellar 
orbs. Yet their brightness is not dimmed, nor their force 
abated. The dew of youth still seems fresh upon them. No 
broken outline shows the foothold of decay; no faltering mo- 
tion reveals the decrepitude of age. Of all things visible, these 
stand next to the Ancient of days; and their undiminished 
glory is a prophecy of eternity. 

And thus shall they who turn many to righteousness shine 
in a glory that shall bring joy even to the heart of the Re- 
deemer; and thus shall their years roll on forever and ever. 

Verse 4. But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the 
book, even to the time of the end : many shall run to and fro, and 
knowledge shall be increased. 

The " words " and " book " here spoken of doubtless refer 
to the things which had been revealed to Daniel in this proph- 
ecy. These things were to be shut up and sealed until the 
time of the end; that is, they were not to be specially studied, 
or to any great extent understood, till that time. The time 
of the end, as has already been shown, commenced in 1798. 
As the book was closed up and sealed to that time, the plain 
inference is that at that time, or from that point, the book 
would be unsealed; that is, people would be better able to un- 
derstand it, and would have their attention specially called to 
this part of the inspired word. Of what has been done on the 
subject of prophecy since that time, it is unnecessary to remind 
the reader. The prophecies, especially Daniel's prophecy, have 
been under examination by all students of the word wherever 
civilization has spread abroad its light upon the earth. And 
so the remainder of the verse, being a prediction of what should 
take place after the time of the end commenced, says, " Many 
shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." 
Whether this running to and fro refers to the passing of peo- 
ple from place to place, and the great improvements in the 
facilities for transportation and travel made within the present 
century, or whether it means, as some understand it, a turning 
to and fro in the prophecies, that is, a diligent and earnest 
search into prophetic truth, the fulfilment is certainly and 



CHAPTER 12, VERSE k 



379 



surely before our eyes. It must have its application in one 
of these two ways; and in both of these directions the present 
age is very strongly marked. 

So of the increase of knowledge. It must refer either to 
the increase of knowledge in general, the development of the 
arts and sciences, or an increase of knowledge in reference to 
those things revealed to Daniel, which were closed up and 
sealed to the time of the end. Here, again, apply it which 
way we will, the fulfilment is most marked and complete. 
Look at the marvelous achievements of the human mind, and 
the cunning works of men's hands, rivaling the magician's 
wildest dreams, which have been accomplished within the last 
hundred years. It was recently stated in the Scientific Ameri- 
can that within this time more advancement has-been made in 
all scientific attainments, and more progress in all that tends 
to domestic comfort, the rapid transaction of business among 
men, the transmission of intelligence from one to another, and 
the means of rapid transit from place to place and even from 
continent to continent, than all that was done for three thou- 
sand years previous, put together. 

By a series of vignettes the artist has given us in the ac- 
companying plates a bird's-eye view of some of the most 
wonderful discoveries and marvelous scientific and mechanical 
achievements of the present age. They represent, — 

1. The Suspension Bridge. — The first suspension bridge 
of note in this country was built across the Niagara River in 
1855. The famous Brooklyn bridge was completed in 1883. 

2. Electric Lighting. — This system of lighting was per- 
fected and brought into use in the last twenty years of the 
nineteenth century. Only two electric lighting exhibits were 
to be seen at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 
1876. At the Paris Exposition, twenty-four years later, there 
were two hundred such exhibits. 

3. Modern Artillery. — At Sandy Hook, guarding the en- 
trance to New York harbor, is a monster breech-loading can- 
non 49 feet in length, weighing 130 tons, capable of throwing 
a projectile over five feet in length and weighing 2,400 pounds, 
a distance of twenty miles. 



380 PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



4. The Automobile. — Only a few years ago this machine 
was entirely unknown. Now automobiles are common in every 
section of the country, and bid fair to almost entirely super- 
sede the horse carriage as a means of locomotion. Read, in 
connection with descriptions of the automobile and the rail- 
way train, the prophecy of Galium 2:3, 4. 

5. The Modern Printing-press. — Presses now used in the 
large newspaper offices consume in an hour 280 miles of paper 
of newspaper width, and turn out in the same time 96,000 
papers of 16 pages, folded, pasted, and counted. Contrast 
this with the hand printing-press of Benjamin Franklin. 

6. The Telegraph. — This was first put into operation in 
1844. 

7. The Trolley Car. — The first practicable electric rail- 
way line was constructed and operated at the Berlin Inter- 
national Exposition, in 1879. Interurban travel by trolley 
car in many places now nearly equals in speed and excels in 
comfort the best steam railway service. It is generally be- 
lieved, in fact, that electricity is about to conquer steam on 
all railway lines. 

8. The Telephone. — The first patent on the telephone 
was granted to Alexander Graham Bell in 1876. 

9. The Steam Railway. — The first American-built loco- 
motive was made in Philadelphia in 1832. The use of the 
steam engine for locomotion has made it possible to travel 
around the world in about sixty days. 

10. Ocean Steamships. — Early in the last century the ap- 
plication of steam power to ships revolutionized ocean travel. 
Two ships now being built for the Cunard line are 760 feet 
in length, have engines of 60,000 horse-power, and are of 
double the tonnage of the famous Great Eastern. 

11. Modern Battleships. — A single battleship of the pres- 
ent day could easily overcome the combined naval fleets of the 
world as they were at the middle of the last century. 

12. The Typewriter. — The first model of the modern type- 
writer was put on the market in 1874. 

13. The Combination Reaper and Thresher. — Compare 
the harvesting methods of the present day, when grain is 




"many shall run to and fro, and 



CHAPTER 12, VERSE 4 



385 



not only cut and gathered, but at the same time threshed and 
collected in bags ready for the market, by one machine, with 
the old method of hand reaping, which was in use in the days 
of our grandfathers. 

14. The Type-setting Machine. — This machine has worked 
a revolution in the art of printing. The first Mergenthaler 
machine was made in 1884. 

15. Oil Wells. — The discovery of petroleum in the last 
century revolutionized domestic lighting, also affording such 
indispensable products as benzine and gasoline. 

16. The Phonograph. — The first Edison phonograph was 
constructed in 1877. 

17. The Photographic Camera. — The first sunlight picture 
of a human face was made by Professor Draper of New York 
in 1840. 

18. Wireless Telegraphy. — The first apparatus capable of 
transmitting wireless messages over long distances was made 
by Marconi in 1896. Almost every large steamship is now 
provided with this apparatus, and conversations can be car- 
ried on by people on the ocean hundreds of miles apart. A 
daily paper is published on transatlantic liners, giving each 
day's news of world events, sent out by wireless telegraphy 
to the ship from the shores of America or of Europe. 

19. The Air-ship. — The long-studied problem of air navi- 
gation seems now, through discoveries recently made, to be 
on the verge of solution. The picture shows a dirigible bal- 
loon, which has been operated with success; but experiments 
now being made with the aeroplane type of air-ship promise 
a practical solution of the problem of air travel at no distant 
date. 

Many other things might be spoken of, such as submarine 
armor for divers, submarine boats for exploring the depths of 
the sea, and for use in naval warfare, power spinning-machines, 
and anesthetics to prevent pain in surgery, etc., etc. 

What a galaxy of wonders to originate in a single age! 
How marvelous the scientific attainments of the present day, 
upon which all these discoveries and achievements concen- 



386 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



trate their light! Truly, viewed from this standpoint, we 
have reached the age of the increase of knowledge. 

And to the honor of Christianity let it be noted in what 
lands, and by whom, all these discoveries have been made, and 
so much done to add to the facilities and comforts of life. It 
is in Christian lands, among Christian men, since the great 
Reformation. Not in the Dark Ages, which furnished only a 
travesty of Christianity; not to pagans, who in their ignorance 
know not God, nor to those who in Christian lands deny him, 
is the credit of this progress due. Indeed, it is the very spirit 
of equality and individual liberty inculcated in the gospel of 
Christ when preached in its purity, which unshackles human 
limbs, unfetters human minds, invites them to the highest use 
of their powers, and makes possible such an age of free thought 
and action, in which these wonders can be achieved. 

Of the marvelous character of the present age, Victor Hugo 
sj3eaks as follows : — 

" In science it works all miracles ; it makes saltpeter out of 
cotton, a horse out of steam, a laborer out of the voltaic pile, 
a courier out of the electric fluid, and a painter of the sun; it 
bathes itself in the subterranean waters, while it is warmed with 
the central fires ; it opens upon the two infinities those two 
windows, — the telescope on the infinitely great, the microscope 
on the infinitely little, and it finds in the first abyss the stars 
of heaven, and in the second abyss the insects, which prove the 
existence of a God. It annihilates time, it annihilates distance, 
it annihilates suffering ; it writes a letter from Paris to London, 
and has the answer back in ten minutes; it cuts off the leg of 
a man — the man sings and smiles. 77 — Le Petit Napoleon. 

But if we take the other standpoint, and refer the increase 
of knowledge to an increase of Biblical knowledge, we have 
only to look at the wonderful light which, within the past sixty 
years, has shone upon the Scriptures. The fulfilment of proph- 
ecy has been revealed in the light of history. The use of a 
better principle of interpretation has led to conclusions show- 
ing, beyond dispute, that the end of all things is near. Truly 
the seal has been taken from the book, and knowledge respect- 
ing what God has revealed in his word, is wonderfully in- 



CHAPTER 12, VERSES 4 - 7 



387 



creased. We think it is in this respect that the prophecy is 
more especially fulfilled, but only in an age like the present 
could the prophecy, even in this direction, be accomplished. 

That we are in the time of the end, when the book of this 
prophecy should be no longer sealed, but be open and under- 
stood, is shown by Rev. 10 : 1, 2, where a mighty angel is seen 
to come down from heaven with a little book in his hand open. 
For proof that the little book, there said to be open, is the book 
here closed up and sealed, and that that angel delivers his mes- 
sage in this generation, see on Rev. 10 : 2. 

Verse 5. Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, 
the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that 
side of the bank of the river. 6. And one said to the man clothed in 
linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be 
to the end of these wonders? 7. And I heard the man clothed in 
linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his 
right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liv- 
eth forever that it shall be for a time, times, and a half; and when he 
shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all 
these things shall be finished. 

The question, " How long shall it be to the end of these 
wonders ? " undoubtedly has reference to all that has previously 
been mentioned, including the standing up of Michael, the time 
of trouble, the deliverance of God's people, and the special and 
antecedent resurrection of verse 2. And the answer seems to 
be given in two divisions : First, a specific prophetic period is 
marked off ; and, secondly, an indefinite period follows before 
the conclusion of all these things is reached ; just as we have it 
in chapter 8:13, 14. When the question was asked, " How 
long the vision ... to give both the sanctuary and the host 
to be trodden under foot ? " the answer mentioned a definite 
period of 2300 days, and then an indefinite period of the 
cleansing of the sanctuary. So in the text before us, there is 
given the period of a time, times, and a half, or 1260 years, 
and then an indefinite period for the continuance of the scatter- 
ing of the power of the holy people, before the consummation. 

The 1260 years mark the period of papal supremacy. Why 
is this period here introduced ? — Probably because this power 
is the one which does more than any other in the world's his- 



388 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



tory toward scattering the power of the holy people, or oppress- 
ing the church of God. But what shall we understand by the 
expression, " Shall have accomplished to scatter the power of 
the holy people "2 A literal translation of the Septuagint 
seems to present it in a clearer light : " When he shall have 
finished the scattering of the power of the holy people." To 
whom does the pronoun he refer % According to the wording 
of this scripture, the antecedent would at first sight seem to be 
" Him that liveth forever/' or Jehovah ; but, as an eminent 
expositor of the prophecies judiciously remarks, in considering 
the pronouns of the Bible we are to interpret them according 
to the facts of the case ; and hence must frequently refer them 
to an antecedent understood, rather than to some noun which 
is expressed. So, here, the little horn, or man of sin, having 
been introduced by the particular mention of the time of his 
supremacy, namely, 1260 years, may be the power referred to 
by the pronoun lie. For 1260 years he had grievously op- 
pressed the church, or scattered its power. After his suprem- 
acy is taken away, his disposition toward the truth and its 
advocates still remains, and his power is still felt to a certain 
extent, and he continues his work of oppression just as far as 
he is able, till — when ? — Till the last of the events brought 
to view in verse 1, the deliverance of God's people, every one 
that is found written in the book. Being thus delivered, per- 
secuting powers are no longer able to oppress them ; their power 
is no longer scattered; the end of the wonders brought to view 
in this great prophecy is reached; and all its predictions are 
accomplished. 

Or, we may, without particularly altering the sense, refer 
the pronoun he to the one mentioned in the oath of verse 7, 
as " Him that liveth forever ; " that is, God, since he employs 
the agency of earthly powers in chastising and disciplining his 
people, and in that sense may be said himself to scatter their 
power. By his prophet he said concerning the kingdom of 
'Israel, " I will overturn, overturn, overturn it, . . . until He 
come whose right it is." Eze. 21 : 27. And again, " Jeru- 
salem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times 
of the Gentiles be fulfilled." Luke 21 : 24. Of like import 



CHAPTER 12, VERSES 5 - 10 



389 



is the prophecy of Dan. 8 : 13 : " How long the vision . . . 
to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden nnder 
foot \ " Who gives them to this condition ? — God. Why % 
• — To discipline ; to " purify and make white " his people. 
How long ? — Till the sanctuary is cleansed. 

Verse 8. And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my 
Lord, what shall be the end of these things ? 9. And he said, Go thy 
way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of 
the end. 10. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried ; but 
the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall under- 
stand; but the wise shall understand. 

How forcibly are we reminded, by Daniel's solicitude to 
understand fully all that had been shown him, of Peter's words 
where he speaks of the prophets' inquiring and searching dili- 
gently to understand the predictions concerning the sufferings 
of Christ and the glory that should follow ; and also of the fact 
that not unto themselves but unto us they did minister. How 
little were some of the prophets permitted to understand of 
what they wrote ! But they did not therefore refuse to write. 
If God required it, they knew that in due time he would see . 
that his people derived from their writings all the benefit that 
he intended. So the language here used to Daniel was the 
same as telling him that when the right time should come, the 
wise would understand the meaning of what he had written, 
and be profited thereby. The time of the end was the time in 
which the Spirit of God was to break the seal from off this 
book; and consequently this was the time during which the 
wise should understand, while the wicked, lost to all sense of 
the value of eternal truth, with hearts callous and hardened in 
sin, would grow continually more wicked and more blind. 
None of the wicked understand. The efforts which the wise 
put forth, to understand, they call folly and presumption, and 
ask, in sneering phrase, " Where is the promise of his com- 
ing?" And should the question be raised, Of what time and 
what generation speaketh the prophet this ? the solemn answer 
would be, Of the present time, and of the generation now be- 
fore us. This language of the prophet is now receiving a most 
striking fulfilment. 



390 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



The phraseology of verse 10 seems at first sight to be rather 
peculiar : " Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried." 
How, it may be asked, can they be made white and then tried 
(as the language would seem to imply), when it is by being 
tried that they are purified and made white ? Answer : The 
language doubtless describes a process which is many times re- 
peated in the experience of those, who, during this time, are 
being made ready for the coming and kingdom of the Lord. 
They are purified and made white to a certain degree, as com- 
pared with their former condition. Then they are again tried. 
Greater tests are brought to bear upon them. If they endure 
these, the work of purification is thus carried on to a still 
greater extent, — the process of being made white is made to 
reach a still higher stage. And having reached this state, they 
are tried again, resulting in their being still further purified 
and made white and thus the process goes on till characters are 
developed which will stand the test of the great day, and a 
spiritual condition is reached which needs no further trial. 

Verse 11. And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be 
taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there 
shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. 

We have here a new prophetic period introduced; namely, 
1290 prophetic days, which would denote the same number of 
literal years. From the reading of the text, some have in- 
ferred (though the inference is not a necessary one) that this 
period begins with the setting up of the abomination of desola- 
tion, or the papal power, in 538, and consequently extends to 
1828. But while we find nothing in the latter year to mark its 
termination, we do find evidence in the margin that it begins 
before the setting up of the papal abomination. The margin 
reads, " To set up the abomination/' etc. With this reading 
the text would stand thus : "And from the time that the daily 
sacrifice shall be taken away to set up [or in order to set up] 
the abomination that maketh desolate, there shall be a thou- 
sand two hundred and ninety days." The daily has already 
been shown to be, not the daily sacrifice of the Jews, but the 
daily or continual abomination, that is, paganism. (See on 



CHAPTER 12, VERSES 11, 12 



391 



chapter 8:13.) This had to be taken away to prepare the 
way for the papacy. For the historical events showing how 
this was accomplished in 508, see on chapter 11: 31. We are 
not told directly to what event these 1290 days reach; but 
inasmuch as their commencement is marked by a work which 
takes place to prepare the way for the setting up of the papacy, 
it would be most natural to conclude that their end would be 
marked by the cessation of papal supremacy. Counting back, 
then, 1290 years from 1798, we have the year 508, where it 
has been shown that paganism was taken away, thirty years 
before the setting up of the papacy. This period is doubtless 
given to show the date of the taking away of the daily, and it 
is the only one which does this. The two periods, therefore, 
the 1290 and the 1260 days, terminate together in 1798, the 
one beginning in 538, and the other in 508, thirty years 
previous. 

Verse 12. Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thou- 
sand three hundred and five and thirty days. 13. But go thou thy 
way till the end be; for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the 
end of the days. 

Still another prophetic period is here introduced, denoting 
1335 years. The testimony concerning this period, like that 
which pertains to the 1290 years, is very meager. Can we tell 
when this period begins and ends ? The only clue we have to 
the solution of this question, is the fact that it is spoken of in 
immediate connection with the 1290 years, which commenced, 
as shown above, in 508. From that point there shall be, says 
the prophet, 1290 days. And the very next sentence reads, 
" Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the 1335 days." 
From what point ? — From the same point, undoubtedly, as 
that from which the 1290 date; namely, 508. Unless they are 
to be reckoned from this point, it is impossible to locate them, 
and they must be excepted from the prophecy of Daniel when 
we apply to it the words of Christ, " Whoso readeth, let him 
understand." Matt. 24: 15. From this point they would ex- 
tend to 1843 ; for 1335 added to 508 make 1843. * Commenc- 
ing in the spring of the former year, they ended in the spring 
of the latter. 
25 



392 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



But how can it be that they have ended, it may be asked, 
since at the end of these days Daniel stands in his lot, which is 
by some supposed to refer to his resurrection from the dead ? 
This question is founded on a misapprehension in two respects : 
First, that the days at the end of which Daniel stands in his 
lot are the 1335 days; and, secondly, that the standing of 
Daniel in his lot is his resurrection, which also cannot be sus- 
tained. The only thing promised at the end of the 1335 days 
is a blessing unto those who wait and come to that time; that 
is, those who are then living. What is this blessing ? Looking 
at the year 1843, when these years expired, what do we behold ? 
— We see a remarkable fulfilment of prophecy in the great 
proclamation of the second coming of Christ. Forty-five years 
before this, the time of the end commenced, the book was un- 
sealed, and light began to increase. About the year 1843, there 
was a grand culmination of all the light that had been shed 
on prophetic subjects up to that time. The proclamation went 
forth in power. The new and stirring doctrine of the setting 
up of the kingdom of God, shook the world. ^ew life was 
imparted to the true disciples of Christ. The unbelieving were 
condemned, the churches were tested, and a spirit of revival 
was awakened which has had no parallel since. 

Was this the blessing ? Listen to the Saviour's words : 
" Blessed are your eyes/ 7 said he to his disciples, " for they 
see ; and your ears, for they hear." Matt. 13 : 16. And again 
he told his followers that prophets and kings had desired to 
see the things which they saw, and had not seen them. But 
" blessed," said he to them, " are the eyes which see the things 
that ye see." Luke 10: 23, 24. If a new and glorious truth 
was a blessing in the days of Christ to those who received it, 
why was it not equally so in a. d. 1843 ? 

It may be objected that those who engaged in this move- 
ment were disappointed in their expectations; so were the 
disciples of Christ at his first advent, in an equal degree. 
They shouted before him as he rode into Jerusalem, expect- 
ing that he would then take the kingdom ; but the only throne 
to which he then went was the cross; and instead of being 
hailed as king in a royal palace, he was laid a lifeless form in 



CHAPTER 12, VERSE 12 



393 



Joseph's new sepulcher. Nevertheless, they were " blessed " 
in receiving the truths they had heard. 

It may be objected further that this was not a sufficient 
blessing to be marked by a prophetic period. Why not, since 
the period in which it was to occur, namely, the time of the 
end, is introduced by a prophetic period ; since our Lord, in 
verse 14 of his great prophecy of Matthew 24, makes a special 
announcement of this movement; and since it is still further 
set forth in Rev. 14: 6, 7, under the symbol of an angel flying 
through mid-heaven with a special announcement of the ever- 
lasting gospel to the inhabitants of the earth ? Surely the Bible 
gives great prominence to this movement. 

Two more questions remain to be briefly noticed: (1) What 
days are referred to in verse 13 ? (2) What is meant by Dan- 
iel's standing in his lot? Those who claim that the days are 
the 1335, are led to that application by looking back no further 
than to the preceding verse, where the 1335 days are men- 
tioned; whereas, in making an application of these days so in- 
definitely introduced, the whole scope of the prophecy should 
certainly be taken in from chapter 8. Chapters 9, 10, 11, 
and 12 are clearly a continuation and explanation of the vision 
of chapter 8 ; hence we may say that in the vision of chapter 8, 
as carried out and explained, there are four prophetic periods; 
namely, the 2300, 1260, 1290, and 1335 clays. The first is the 
principal and longest period ; the others are but intermediate 
parts and subdivisions of this. Now, when the angel tells 
Daniel, at the conclusion of his instructions, that he shall stand 
in his lot at the end of the days, without specifying which 
period was meant, would not Daniel's mind naturally turn to 
the principal and longest period, the 2300 days, rather than to 
any of its subdivisions? If this is so, the 2300 are the days 
intended. The reading of the Septuagint seems to look very 
plainly in this direction : " But go thy way and rest ; for there 
are yet days and seasons to the full accomplishment [of these 
things] ; and thou shalt stand in thy lot at the end of the days." 
This certainly carries the mind back to the long period contained 
in the first vision, in relation to which the subsequent instruc- 
tions were given. 



394 



PROPHECY OF DANIEL 



The 2300 days, as has been already shown, terminated in 
1844, and brought us to the cleansing of the sanctuary. How 
did Daniel at that time stand in his lot ? Answer : In the 
person of his Advocate, our great High Priest, as he presents 
the cases of the righteous for acceptance to his Father. The 
word here translated lot does not mean a piece of real estate, 
a " lot " of land, but the " decisions of chance " or the " deter- 
minations of Providence." At the end of the days, the lot, so 
to speak, was to be cast. In other words, a determination was 
to be made in reference to those who should be accounted worthy 
of a possession in the heavenly inheritance. And when Daniel's 
case comes up for examination, he is found righteous, stands in 
his lot, is assigned a place in the heavenly Canaan. 

When Israel was about to enter into the promised land, 
the lot was cast, and the possession of each tribe was assigned. 
The tribes thus stood in their respective " lots " long before 
they entered upon the actual possession of the land. The time 
of the cleansing of the sanctuary corresponds to this period 
of Israel's history. We now stand upon the borders of the 
heavenly Canaan, and decisions are being made, assigning to 
some a place in the eternal kingdom, and barring others for- 
ever therefrom. In the decision of his case, Daniel's portion 
in the celestial inheritance will be made sure to him. And 
with him all the faithful will also stand. And when this 
devoted servant of God, who filled up a long life with the 
noblest deeds of service to his Maker, though cumbered with 
the weightiest cares of this life, shall enter upon his reward 
for well-doing, w T e too may enter with him into rest. 

We draw the study of this prophecy to a close, with the 
remark that it has been with no small degree of satisfaction 
that Ave have spent what time and study we have on this won- 
derful prophecy, and in contemplating the character of this 
most beloved of men and most illustrious of prophets. God 
is no respecter of persons ; and a reproduction of Daniel's 
character will secure the divine favor as signally even now. 
Let us emulate his virtues, that we, like him, may have the 
approbation of God while here, and dwell amid the creations 
of his infinite glory in the long hereafter. 



JOHN WRITING THE REVELATION 

" WJiat thou seest, write i,i a boolc." Rev. 1 : 11. 




THE Revelation, usually termed " The Apocalypse/' from 
its Greek name, ' ' k-rroKaXvipi^ meaning " a disclosure, a 
revelation/' has been described to be " a panorama of 
the glory of Christ." In the Evangelists we have the record 
of his humiliation, his condescension, his toil and sufferings, 
his patience, his mockings and scourgings by those who should 
have done him reverence, and finally his death upon the shame- 
ful cross, — a death esteemed in that age to be the most igno- 
minious that men could inflict. In the Revelation we have 
the gospel of his enthronement in glory, his association with the 
Eather upon the throne of universal dominion, his overruling 
providence among the nations of the earth, and his coming 
again, not a homeless stranger, but in power and great glory, 
to punish his enemies and reward his followers. "A voice 
has cried in the wilderness, ' Behold the Lamb of God ; ' a voice 
will soon proclaim from heaven, ' Behold the Lion of the tribe 
of Juclah ! ' " 

Scenes of glory surpassing fable are unvailed before us in 
this book. Appeals of unwonted power bear down upon the 
impenitent from its sacred pages in threatenings of judgment 
that have no parallel in any other portion of the book of God. 
Consolation which no language can describe is here given to 
the humble followers of Christ in this lower world, in glorious 
views of Him upon whom help for them has been laid, — Him 
who has the key of David, who holds his ministers in his own 
right hand, who, though he was once dead, is now alive for- 
evermore, and assures us that he is the triumphant possessor 
of the keys of death and of the grave, and who has given to 
every overcomer the multiplied promise of walking with him 

(397) 



398 



THE REVELATION 



in white, having a crown of life, partaking of the fruit of the 
tree of life which grows in the midst of the paradise of God, 
and being raised up to sit with him upon his own glorious 
throne. ~No other book takes us at once, and so irresistibly, 
into another sphere. Long vistas are here opened before us, 
which are bounded by no terrestrial objects, but carry us for- 
ward into other worlds. And if ever themes of thrilling and 
impressive interest, and grand and lofty imagery, and sublime 
and magnificent description, can invite the attention of man- 
kind, then the Revelation invites us to a careful study of its 
pages, which urge upon our notice the realities of a momentous 
future and an unseen world. 




HE 




OPENING 
VISION 



CHAPTER I. 



THE book of the Revelation opens with the announcement 
of its title, and with a benediction on those who shall 
give diligent heed to its solemn prophetic utterances, 
as follows: — 

Verse 1. The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto 
him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to 
pass ; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John : 
2. Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus 
Christ, and of all things that he saw. 3. Blessed is he that readeth, 
and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things 
which are written therein : for the time is at hand. 

The Title. — The translators of our common version of the 
Bible have given this book the title of " The Revelation of St. 
John the Divine." In this they contradict the very first words 
of the book itself, which declare it to be " The Revelation of 
Jesus Christ." Jesus Christ is the Revelator, not John. John 
is but the penman employed by Christ to write out this Revela- 
tion for the benefit of his church. There is no doubt that the 
John here mentioned is the person of that name who was the 
beloved and highly favored one among the twelve apostles. He 
was evangelist and apostle, and the writer of the Gospel and 
epistles which bear his name. (See Clarke, Barnes, Kitto, 
Pond, and others.) To his previous titles he now adds that 
of prophet ; for the Revelation is a prophecy. But the matter 

(399) 



400 



THE REVELATION 



of this book is traced back to a still higher source. It is not 
only the Revelation of Jesus Christ, but it is the Revelation 
which God gave unto him. It comes, then, first, from the 
great Fountain of all wisdom and truth, God the Father; by 
him it was communicated to Jesus Christ, the Son; and 
Christ sent and signified it by his angel to his servant John. 

The Character of the Book. — This is expressed in one 
word, " Revelation." A revelation is something revealed, 
something clearly made known, not something hidden and con- 
cealed. Moses, in Deut. 29 : 29, tells us that " the secret 
things belong unto the Lord our God; but those things which 
are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever." The 
very title of the book, then, is a sufficient refutation of the 
popular opinion of to-day, that this book is among the hid- 
den mysteries of God, and cannot be understood. Were this 
the case, it should bear some such title as " The Mystery " 
or " The Hidden Book;" certainly not that of "The Reve- 
lation." 

Its Object. — "To show unto his servants things which 
must shortly come to pass." His servants — who are they ? 
Is there any limit ? For whose benefit was the Revelation 
given ? Was it given for any specified persons ? for any par- 
ticular churches ? for any special period of time ? — i^o ; it is 
for all the church in all time, so long as any of the events 
therein predicted remain to be accomplished. It is for all 
those who can claim the appellation of " his servants," wher- 
ever or whenever they may live. 

But this language brings up again the common view that 
the Revelation is not to be understood. God says that it was 
given to show something to his servants ; and yet many of the 
expounders of his word tell us that it does not show anything, 
because no man can understand it! as though God would un- 
dertake to make known to mankind some important truths, 
and yet fall into the worse than earthly folly of clothing them 
in language or in figures which human minds could not com- 
prehend ! as though he would command a person to behold 
some distant object, and then erect an impenetrable barrier be- 
tween him and the object specified! or as though he would 



CHAPTER 1, VERSES 1 - 3 



101 



give his servants a light to guide them through the gloom of 
night, and yet throw over that light a pall so thick and heavy 
that not a ray of its brightness could penetrate the obscuring 
folds ! How do they dishonor God who thus trine with his 
word! ~No; the Revelation will accomplish the object for 
which it was given, and " his servants " will learn therefrom 
" the things which must shortly come to pass/' and which con- 
cern their eternal salvation. 

His Angel. — Christ sent and made known the Revelation 
to John by " his angel." A particular angel seems here to be 
brought to view. What angel could appropriately be called 
Christ's angel ? May we not find an answer to this question 
in a significant passage in the prophecy of Daniel ? In Dan. 
10:21, an angel, which was doubtless Gabriel (see Daniel, 
chapters 9, 10, and 11: 1), in making known some important 
truths to Daniel, said, " There is none that holdeth with me in 
these things, but Michael your prince." Who Michael is we 
easily learn. Jude (verse 9) calls him the " archangel." And 
Paul tells us that when the Lord descends from heaven, and 
the dead in Christ are raised, the voice of the archangel shall 
be heard. 1 Thess. 4: 16. And whose voice will be heard at 
that amazing hour when the dead are called to life ? The Lord 
himself replies, " Marvel not at this ; for the hour is coming 
in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice " 
(John 5: 28) ; and the previous verse shows that the one here 
referred to, whose voice will then be heard, is the Son of man, 
or Christ. It is the voice of Christ, then, that calls the dead 
from their graves. That voice, Paul declares, is the voice of 
the archangel; and Jude says that the archangel is called 
Michael, the very personage mentioned in Daniel, and all re- 
ferring to Christ. The statement in Daniel, then, is, that the 
truths to be revealed to Daniel were committed to Christ, and 
confined exclusively to him, and to an angel whose name was 
Gabriel. Similar to the work of communicating important 
truth to the " beloved prophet " is the work of Christ in the 
Revelation of communicating important truth to the " beloved 
disciple ; " and who, in this work, can be his angel but he who 
was engaged with him in the former work, that is, the angel 



402 



THE REVELATION 



Gabriel ? This fact will throw light on some points in this 
book, while it would also seem most appropriate that the same 
being who was employed to carry messages to the " beloved " 
prophet of the former dispensation, should perform the same 
office for him who corresponds to that prophet in the gospel 
age. (See on chapter 19: 10.) 

The Benediction. — " Blessed is he that readeth, and they 
that hear the words of this prophecy/' Is there so direct and 
formal a blessing pronounced upon the reading and observance 
of any other portion of the word of God % What encourage- 
ment, then, have we for its study ! And shall we say that it 
cannot be understood ? Is a blessing offered for the study of a 
book which it can do us no good to study ? Men may assert, 
with more pertness than piety, that " every age of declension 
is marked by an increase of commentaries on the Apocalypse," 
or that " the study of the Revelation either finds, or leaves a 
man mad ; " but God has pronounced his blessing upon it, he 
has set the seal of his approbation to an earnest study of its 
marvelous pages ; and with such encouragement from such a 
source, the child of God will be unmoved by a thousand feeble 
counterblasts from men. 

Every fulfilment of prophecy brings its duties ; hence there 
are things in the Revelation to be kept, or performed ; practical 
duties to be entered upon as the result of the accomplishment 
of the prophecy. A notable instance of this kind may be seen 
in chapter 14 : 12, where it is said, " Here are they that keep 
the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." 

But says John, " The time is at hand," — another motive 
offered for the study of this book. It becomes more and more 
important, as we draw near the great consummation. On this 
point we offer the impressive thoughts of another : " The im- 
portance of studying the Apocalypse increases with the lapse 
of time. Here are ' things which must shortly come to pass.' 
Even when John bare record of the word of God, and of the 
testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw, the 
long period within which those successive scenes were to be 
realized was at hand. If proximity then constituted a motive 
for heeding those contents, how much more does it now! 



CHAPTER 1, VERSES 1 - 6 



403 



Every revolving century, every closing year, adds to the 
urgency with which attention is challenged to the concluding 
portion of Holy Writ. And does not that intensity of devo- 
tion to the present, which characterizes our times and our 
country, enhance the reasonableness of this claim? !Never, 
surely, was there a period when some mighty counteracting 
power was more needed. The Revelation of Jesus Christ, duly 
studied, supplies an appropriate corrective influence. Would 
that all Christians might, in fullest measure, receive the bless- 
ing of ' them that hear the words of this prophecy, and that 
keep the things which are written therein; for the time is at 
hand.' 7 ' — Thompson s Patmos, pp. 28, 29. 

The Dedication. — Following the benediction, we have the 
dedication, in these words : — 

Verse 4. John to the seven churches which are in Asia; Grace 
be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which 
is to come; and from the seven spirits which are before his throne; 

5. And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first 
begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto 
him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, 

6. And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to 
him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 

The Churches in Asia. — There were more churches in Asia 
than seven. We may confine ourselves to that western frac- 
tion of Asia known as Asia Minor, or we may include still less 
territory than that ; for in even that small portion of Asia 
Minor where were situated the seven churches which are men- 
tioned, and right in their very midst, there were other impor- 
tant churches. Colosse, to the Christians of which place Faul 
addressed his epistle to the Colossians, was but a slight dis- 
tance from Laodicea. Miletus Avas nearer than any of the 
seven to Fatmos, where John had his vision ; and it was an 
important station for the church, as we may judge from the 
fact that Paul, during one of his stays there, sent for the elders 
of the church of Ephesus to meet him at that place. Acts 20 : 
17-38. At the same place he also left, in good Christian 
hands no doubt, Trophimus, his disciple, sick. 2 Tim. 4:20. 
And Troas, where Paul spent a season with the disciples, and 
whence, having waited till the Sabbath was past, he started off 



404 



THE REVELATION 



upon his journey, was not far removed from Pergamos, named 
among the seven. It becomes, therefore, an interesting ques- 
tion to determine why seven of the churches of Asia Minor 
were selected as the ones to which the Revelation should be 
dedicated. Does what is said of the seven churches in chapter 
1, and to them in chapters 2 and 3, have reference solely to 
the seven literal churches named, describing things only as 
they then and- there existed, and portraying what was before 
them alone ? We cannot so conclude, for the following rea- 
sons : — 

1. The entire book of Revelation (see chapter 1: 3, 11, 19; 
22:18, 19) was dedicated to the seven churches. Verse 11. 
But the book was no more applicable to them than to other 
Christians in Asia Minor, — those, for instance, who dwelt 
in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, and Bithynia, addressed in 
1 Peter 1:1; or the Christians of Colosse, Troas, and Miletus, 
in the very midst of the churches named. 

2. Only a small portion of the book could have personally 
concerned the seven churches, or any of the Christians of 
John's day; for the events it brings to view were mostly so 
far in the future as to lie beyond the lifetime of the genera- 
tion then living, or even the time during which those churches 
would continue ; and consequently they could have no personal 
connection with them. 

3. The seven stars which the Son of man held in his right 
hand (verse 20), are declared to be the angels of the seven 
churches. The angels of the churches, doubtless all will agree, 
are the ministers of the churches. Their being held in the 
right hand of the Son of man denotes the upholding power, 
guidance, and protection vouchsafed to them. But there were 
only seven of them in his right hand. And are there only 
seven thus cared for by the great Master of assemblies ? May 
not, rather, all the true ministers of the whole gospel age de- 
rive from this representation the consolation of knowing that 
they are upheld and guided by the right hand of the great 
Head of the church ? Such would seem to be the only con- 
sistent conclusion. 

4. Again, John, looking into the Christian dispensation, 



CHAPTER 1, VERSES 4 - 6 



405 



saw only seven candlesticks, representing seven churches, in 
the midst of which stood the Son of man. The position of the 
Son of man in their midst must denote his presence with them, 
his watchcare over them, and his searching scrutiny of all their 
works. But does he thus take cognizance of only seven indi- 
vidual churches in this dispensation % May w T e not rather con- 
clude that this scene represents his position in reference to all 
his churches during the gospel age % Then why were only 
seven mentioned ? Seven, as used in the Scriptures, is a 
number denoting fulness and completeness, being, doubtless, a 
kind of memorial of the great facts of the first seven days of 
time, which gave the world the still used weekly cycle. Like 
the seven stars, the seven candlesticks must denote the whole 
of the things which they represent. The whole gospel church in 
seven divisions, or periods, must be symbolized by them ; and 
hence the seven churches must be applied in the same manner. 

5. Why, then, were the seven particular churches chosen 
that are mentioned ? For the reason, doubtless, that in the 
names of these churches, according to the definitions of the 
words, are brought out the religious features of those periods 
of the gospel age which they respectively were to represent. 

For these reasons, " the seven churches " are doubtless to 
be understood to mean not merely the seven literal churches of 
Asia which went by the names mentioned, but seven periods 
of the Christian church, from the days of the apostles to the 
close of probation. (See on chapter 2, verse 1.) 

The Source of Blessing. — u From him which is, and which 
was, and which is to come," or is to be, — an expression which 
signifies complete eternity, past and future, and can be appli- 
cable to God the Father only. This language, we believe, is 
never applied to Christ. He is spoken of as another person, in 
distinction from the being thus described. 

The Seven Spirits. — This expression probably has no ref- 
erence to angels, but to the Spirit of God. It is one of the 
sources from which grace and peace are invoked for the church. 
On the interesting subject of the seven spirits, Thompson re- 
marks: " That is, from the Holy Spirit, denominated 1 the 
seven spirits,' because seven is a sacred and perfect number; 



406 



THE REVELATION 



not thus named as denoting interior plurality, but the fulness 
and perfection of his gifts and operations." Barnes says, 
" The number seven, therefore, may have been given by the 
Holy Spirit with reference to the diversity or the fulness of his 
operations on the souls of men, and to his manifold agency in 
the affairs of the world, as further developed in this book." 
Bloomfield gives this as the general interpretation. 

His Throne. — The throne of God the Father ; for Christ 
has not yet taken his own throne. The seven spirits being be- 
fore the throne " may be intended to designate the fact that 
the Divine Spirit is ever ready to be sent forth, in accordance 
with a common representation in the Scriptures, to accomplish 
important purposes in human affairs." 

And from Jesus Christ. — Then Christ is not the person 
who, in the verse before us, is designated as " him which is, and 
which was, and which is to come." Some of the chief charac- 
teristics which pertain to Christ are here mentioned. He is, — 

The Faithful Witness. — Whatever he bears witness to is 
true. Whatever he promises, he will surely fulfil. 

The First Begotten of the Dead. — This expression is paral- 
lel to 1 Cor. 15 : 20, 23 ; Heb. 1:6; Kom. 8 : 29 ; and Col. 1 : 
15, 18, where we find such expressions applied to Christ as 
" the first-fruits of them that slept," " the first-born among 
many brethren," " the first-born of every creature," and " the 
first-born from the dead." But these expressions do not neces- 
sarily denote that he was the first in point of time to be raised 
from the dead ; for others were raised before him. That would 
be a very unimportant point; but he was the chief and central 
figure of all who have come up from the grave; for it was by 
virtue of Christ's coming, work, and resurrection, that any were 
raised before his time. In the purpose of God, he was the 
first in point of time as well as in importance; for it was not 
till after the purpose of Christ's triumph over the grave was 
formed in the mind of God, who calleth those things that be 
not as though they were (Rom. 4: 17), that any were released 
from the power of death, by virtue of that great fact which was 
in due time to be accomplished. Christ is therefore called the 
" first-begotten of the dead" (chapter 1:5), the " first-fruits 



CHAPTER 1, VERSES k - 6 



407 



of them that slept" (1 Cor. 15:20), the " first-born among 
many brethren" (Rom. 8:29), and " the first-born from the 
dead." Col. 1: 18. In Acts 26: 23 he is spoken of as " the 
first that should rise from the dead, and should show light unto 
the people," or the first who by rising from the dead should 
show light unto the people. (See the Greek of this passage, 
and Bloomfield's note thereon; also " Here and Hereafter," 
chapter 17.) 

The Prince of the Kings of the Earth. — Christ is Prince 
of earthly kings in a certain sense now. Paul informs us, in 
Eph. 1 : 20, 21, that he has been set at the right hand of God 
in the heavenly places, " far above all principality, and power, 
and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not 
only in this world, but also in that which is to come." The 
highest names named in this world are the princes, kings, em- 
perors, and potentates of earth. But Christ is placed far above 
them. He is seated with his Father upon the throne of uni- 
versal dominion (chapter 3:21), and ranks equally with him 
in the overruling and controlling of the affairs of all the 
nations of the earth. 

In a more particular sense, Christ is to be Prince of the 
kings of the earth when he takes his own throne, and the king- 
doms of this world become the " kingdoms of our Lord and of 
his Christ," when they are given by the Father into his hands, 
and he comes forth bearing upon his vesture the title of " King 
of kings and Lord of lords," to dash them in pieces like a 
potter's vessel. Chapter 19:16; 2:27; Ps. 2:8, 9. 

Unto Him that Loved Us. — We have thought that earthly 
friends loved us, — a father, a mother, brothers and sisters, or 
bosom friends, — but we see that no love is worthy of the name 
compared with the love of Christ for us. And the following 
sentence adds intensity of meaning to the previous words: 
"And washed us from our sins in his own blood." What 
love is this ! " Greater love," says the apostle, " hath no man 
than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." But 
Christ has commended his love for us, in that he died for us 
" while we were yet sinners." But more than this — " Hath 
made us kings and priests unto God and his Father." From 
26 



408 



THE REVELATION • 



being leprous with sin, we are made clean in his sight; from 
being enemies, we are not only made friends, but raised to po- 
sitions of honor and dignity. This cleansing, and this kingly 
and priestly exaltation — to what state do they pertain % to the 
present or the future ? — Chiefly to the future ; for it is then 
only that we shall enjoy these blessings in the highest degree. 
Then, after the atonement has been accomplished, we are abso- 
lutely free from our sins; before that time they are pardoned 
only on condition, and blotted out only by anticipation. But 
when the saints are permitted to sit with Christ on his throne, 
according to the promise to the victorious Laodiceans, when 
they take the kingdom under the whole heaven and reign for- 
ever and ever, they will be kings in a sense that they never 
can be in this present state. Yet enough is true of our present 
condition to make this cheering language aj)propriate in the 
Christian's present song of joy; for here we are permitted to 
say that we have redemption through his blood, though that 
redemption is not yet given, and that we have eternal life, 
though that life is still in the hands of the Son, to be brought 
unto us at his appearing; and it is still true, as it was in the 
days of John and Peter, that God designs his people in this 
world to be unto him a chosen generation, a royal (kingly) 
priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people. 1 Peter 2:9; 
Rev. 3 : 21 ; Dan. 7 : 18, 27. No wonder the loving and be- 
loved disciple ascribed to this Being who has done so much for 
us, glory and dominion, forever and ever. And let all the 
church join in this most fitting ascription to their greatest 
benefactor and dearest friend. 

Verse 7. Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see 
him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth 
shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. 

He Cometh with Clouds. — Here John carries us forward to 
the second advent of Christ in glory, the climax and crowning 
event of his intervention in behalf of this fallen world. Once 
he came in weakness, now he comes in power; once in humil- 
ity, now in glory. He comes in clouds, in like manner as he 
ascended. Acts 1:9, 11. 



CHAPTER 1, VERSE 7 



409 



His Coming Visible. — " Every eye shall see liim; " that is, 
all who are alive at the time of his corning. We know of no 
personal coming of Christ that shall be as the stillness of mid- 
night, or take place only in the desert or the secret chamber. 
He comes not as a thief in the sense of stealing in stealthily 
and quietly upon the world, and purloining goods to which he 
has no right. But he comes to take to himself his dearest 
treasure, his sleeping and living saints, whom he has purchased 
with his own precious blood; whom he has wrested from the 
power of death in fair and open conflict ; and for whom his 
coming will be no less open and triumphant, too. It will be 
with the brilliancy and splendor of the lightning as it shines 
from the east to the west. Matt. 24:27. It will be with 
a sound of a trumpet that shall pierce to earth's lowest depths, 
and with a mighty voice that shall wake the sainted sleepers 
from their dusty beds. Matt. 24: 31, margin; 1 Thess. 4: 16. 
He will come upon the wicked as a thief, only because they 
persistently shut their eyes to the tokens of his approach, and 
will not believe the declarations of his word that he is at the 
door. To represent two comings, a private and a public one, 
in connection with the second advent, as some do, is wholly 
unwarranted in the Scriptures. 

And They Also which Pierced Him. — They also (in addi- 
tion to the " every eye," before mentioned) who were chiefly 
concerned in the tragedy of his death; they shall behold him 
returning to earth in triumph and glory. But how is this ? 
They are not now living, and how, then, shall they behold 
him when he comes ? Answer : By a resurrection from the 
dead; for this is the only possible avenue to life to those who 
have once been laid in the grave. But how is it that these 
wicked persons come up at this time ? for the general resurrec- 
tion of the wicked does not take place till a thousand years 
after the second advent. Chapter 20:1-6. On this point 
Daniel informs us. He says (chapter 12:1, 2): — 

"And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince 
which standeth for the children of thy people : and there shall 
be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation 
even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be 



410 



THE REVELATION 



delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. 
And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall 
awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and ever- 
lasting contempt." 

Here a partial resurrection is brought to view, or a resur- 
rection of a certain class of each, righteous and wicked, before 
the general resurrection of either class. Many, not all, that 
sleep shall awake. Some of the righteous, not all of them, 
to everlasting life, and some of the wicked, not all of them, to 
shame and everlasting contempt. And this resurrection tran- 
spires in connection with the great time of trouble such as never 
was, which just precedes the coming of the Lord. May not 
" they also which pierced him " be among those who then 
come up to shame and everlasting contempt ? What could be 
more appropriate, so far as human minds can judge, than that 
those who took part in the scene of our Lord's greatest humilia- 
tion, and other special leaders in crime against him, should 
be raised to behold his terrible majesty, as he comes trium- 
phantly, in naming fire, to take vengeance on them that know 
not God, and obey not his gospel? (See Dan. 12:2.) 

The Church's Response. — " Even so, Amen." Though this 
coming of Christ is to the wicked a scene of terror and destruc- 
tion, it is to the righteous a scene of joy and triumph. " When 
the world's distress comes, then the saints' rest comes." That 
coming which is with naming fire, and for the purpose of tak- 
ing vengeance on the wicked, is to recompense rest to all them 
that believe. 2 Thess. 1 : 6-10. Every friend and lover of 
Christ will hail every declaration and every token of his re- 
turn as glad tidings of great joy. 

Verse 8. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, 
saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the 
Almighty. 

Here another speaker is introduced. Previous to this, John 
has been the speaker. But this verse has no connection with 
what precedes nor with what follows. Who it is who here 
speaks must be determined, therefore, by the terms used. Here 
we again have the expression, " Which is, and which was, and 



CHAPTER 1, VERSES 8, 9 



411 



which is to come/' which has already been noticed as referring 
exclusively to God. But it may be asked, Does not the word 
Lord denote that it was Christ ? On this point Barnes has the 
following note: " Many MSS. instead of ' Lord/ kvqios, read 
' God/ 0e<k, and this reading is adopted by Griesbach, Titt- 
man, and Hahn, and is now regarded as the correct reading." 
Bloomfield supplies the word God, and marks the words " the 
beginning and the ending " as an interpolation. Thus appro- 
priately closes the first principal division of this chapter, with a 
revelation of himself by the great God as being of an eternity 
of existence, past and future, and of almighty power, and hence 
able to perforin all his threatenings and his promises, which he 
has given us in this book. 

Verse 9. I John, who also am your brother, and companion in 
tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in 
the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the 
testimony of Jesus Christ. 

The subject here changes, John introducing the place and 
the circumstances under which the Revelation was given. He 
first sets himself forth as a brother of the universal church, 
and their companion in the tribulations incident to the Chris- 
tian profession in this life. 

And in the Kingdom. — These words have been the occa- 
sion of no little controversy. Does John really mean to say 
that Christians in the present state are in the kingdom of 
Christ, or in other words, that in his day Christ's kingdom 
had already been set up ? If this language has any reference 
to the present state, it must be in a very limited and accom- 
modated sense. Those who take the ground that it has its 
application here, usually refer to 1 Peter 2 : 9 to prove the 
existence of a kingdom in the present state, and to show its 
nature. But, as was remarked on verse 6, the literal reign 
of the saints is yet future. It is through much tribulation 
that Ave are to enter into the kingdom of God. Acts 14 : 22. 
But when the kingdom is entered, the tribulation is done. 
The tribulation and the kingdom do not exist contemporane- 
ously. Murdock's translation of the Syriac of this verse 



412 



THE REVELATION 



omits the word kingdom, and reads as follows : " I John, your 
brother, and partaker with you in the affliction and suffering 
that are in Jesus the Messiah." Wakefield translates: "I 
John, your brother, and sharer with you in enduring the afflic- 
tion of the kingdom of Jesus Christ." Bloomfield says that 
by the words tribulation and patience " are denoted afflictions 
and troubles to be endured for the sake, and in the cause of 
Christ ; and /Saa-iXeia [kingdom] intimates that he is to be par- 
taker with them in the kingdom prepared for them." He says 
that " the best comment on this passage is 2 Tim. 2 : 12," 
which reads : " If we suffer, we shall also reign with him." 
From all which we may safely conclude that though there is 
a kingdom of grace in the present state, the kingdom to which 
John alluded is the future kingdom of glory, and the suffering 
and patience are preparatory to its enjoyment. 

The Place. — The isle that is called Patmos, — a small, bar- 
ren island off the west coast of Asia Minor, between the island 
of Icaria and the promontory of Miletus, where in John's day 
was located the nearest Christian church. It is about eight 
miles in length, one in breadth, and eighteen in circumference. 
Its present name is Patino or Patmosa. The coast is high, 
and consists of a succession of capes, which form many ports. 
The only one now in use is a deep bay sheltered by high moun- 
tains on every side but one, where it is protected by a project- 
ing cape. The town attached to this port is situated upon a 
high, rocky mountain rising immediately from the sea, and is 
the only inhabited site of the island. About half way up the 
mountain on which this town is built, there is shown a natural 
grotto in the rock, where tradition will have it that John had 
his vision and wrote the Revelation. On account of the stern 
and desolate character of this island, it w T as used, under the 
Roman empire, as a place of banishment, which accounts for 
the exile of John thither. The banishment of the apostle took 
place about the year a. d. 94, as is generally supposed, under 
the emperor Domitian ; and from this fact the date assigned to 
the writing of the Revelation is a. d. 95 or 96. 

The Cause of Banishment. — - " For the word of God, and 
for the testitmony of Jesus Christ." This was John's high 



CHAPTER 1, VERSES 9, 10 



115 



crime and misdemeanor. The tyrant Doinitian, who was then 
invested with the imperial pnrple of Rome, more eminent for 
his vices than even for his civil position, quailed before this 
aged but dauntless apostle. He dared not permit the promul- 
gation of his pure gospel within the bounds of his kingdom. 
He exiled him to lonely Patmos, where, if anywhere this side 
of death, he might be said to be out of the world. Having 
confined him to that barren spot, and to the cruel labor of the 
mines, the emperor doubtless thought that this preacher of 
righteousness was finally disposed of, and that the world would 
heai no more of him. So, doubtless, thought the persecutors 
of John Bunyan when they had shut him up in Bedford jail. 
But when man thinks he has buried the truth in eternal ob- 
livion, the Lord gives it a resurrection in tenfold glory and 
power. .From Bunyan's dark and narrow cell there blazed 
forth a spiritual light, which, next to the Bible itself, has built 
up the interests of the gospel; and from the barren Isle of 
Patmos, where Domitian thought he had forever extinguished 
at least one torch of truth, there arose the most magnificent 
revelation of all the sacred canon, to shed its divine luster over 
the whole Christian world till the end of time. And how many 
will revere the name of the beloved disciple, and hang with 
delight upon his enraptured visions of heavenly glory, who 
will never learn the name of the monster who caused his ban- 
ishment. Verily, those words of the Scriptures are sometimes 
applicable, even to the present life, which declare that " the 
righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance," but " the 
name of the wicked shall rot." 

Verse 10. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind 
me a great voice, as of a trumpet. 

In the Spirit. — Exiled though John was from all of like 
faith, and almost from the world, he was not exiled from God, 
nor from Christ, nor from the Holy Spirit, nor from angels. 
He still had communion with his divine Lord. And the ex- 
pression " in the Spirit " seems to denote the highest state of 
spiritual elevation into which a person can be brought by the 
Spirit of God. It marked the commencement of his vision. 



416 THE REVELATION 

On the Lord's Day. — What day is intended by this desig- 
nation ? On this question f onr different positions are taken by 
different classes. 1. One class hold that the expression " the 
Lord's day " covers the whole gospel dispensation, and does not 
mean any particular twenty-four-hour day. 2. Another class 
hold that the Lord's day is the day of judgment, the future 
" day of the Lord," so often brought to view in the Scriptures. 
3. The third view, and the one perhaps the most prevalent, 
is that the expression refers to the first day of the week. 4. 
Still another class hold that it means the seventh day, the 
Sabbath of the Lord. 

1. To the first of these positions it is sufficient to reply that 
the book of Revelation is dated by the writer, John, in the Isle 
of Patmos, and upon the Lord's day. The writer, the place 
where it was written, and the day upon which it was dated, 
have each a real existence, and not merely a symbolical or 
mystical one. But if we say that the day means the gospel 
dispensation, we give it a symbolical or mystical meaning, 
which is not admissible. Besides, this position involves the 
absurdity of making John say, sixty-five years after the death 
of Christ, that the vision which he records was seen by him in 
the gospel dispensation, as if any Christian could possibly 
be ignorant of that fact ! 

2. The second position, that it is the day of judgment, can- 
not be correct; for while John might have had a vision con- 
cerning the day of judgment, he could not have had one on 
that day when it is yet future. The word translated on is 
iv (en) , and is defined by Robinson when relating to time, as 
follows: " Time when; a definite point or period, in, during, 
07i, at, which anything takes place." It never means about or 
concerning. Hence they who refer it to the judgment day 
either contradict the language used, making it mean concern- 
ing instead of on, or they make John state a strange false- 
hood, by saying that he had a vision upon the Isle of Patmos, 
nearly eighteen hundred years ago, on the day of judgment 
which is yet future! 

3. The third view is that by " Lord's day " is meant the 
first day of the week, a view by far the most generally enter- 



CHAPTER 1, VERSE 10 



tained. On this we inquire for the proof. What evidence 
have we for this assertion ? The text itself does not define 
the term Lord's day; hence if it means the first day of the 
week, we must look elsewhere in the Bible for the proof that 
that day of the week is ever so designated. The only other in- 
spired writers who speak of the first day at all, are Matthew, 
Mark, Luke, and Paul ; and they speak of it simply as " the 
first day of the week." They never speak of it in a manner 
to distinguish it above any other of the six working days. 
And this is the more remarkable, viewed from the popular 
standpoint, as three of them speak of it at the very time when 
it is said to have become the Lord's day by the resurrection 
of the Lord upon it, and two of them mention it some thirty 
years after that event. 

If it is said that the term " Lord's day " was the usual 
term for the first day of the week in John's day, Ave ask, 
Where is the proof of this ? It cannot be found. But we 
have proof of just the contrary. (See " History of the Sab- 
bath," by J. N. Andrews, for sale by the Southern Publishing 
Association, Nashville, Tenn. ) If this was the universal des- 
ignation of the first day of the week at the time the Revelation 
was written, the same writer would most assuredly call it so 
in all his subsequent writings. But John wrote the Gospel 
after he wrote the Revelation, and yet in that Gospel he calls 
the first day of the week, not Lord's day, but simply " the first 
day of the week." For proof that the Gospel was written 
at a period subsequent to the Revelation, the reader is re- 
ferred to such standard authorities as the Religious Encyclo- 
pedia, Barnes's Notes (Gospels), Bible Dictionaries, Cottage 
Bible, Domestic Bible, Mine Explored, Union Bible Diction- 
ary, Comprehensive Bible, Paragraph Bible, Bloomfield, Dr. 
Hales, Home, Nevins, and Olshausen. 

And what still further disproves the claim here set up in 
behalf of the first day, is the fact that neither the Father nor 
the Son has ever claimed the first day as his own in any 
higher sense than he has each or any of the other laboring 
days. Neither of them has ever placed any blessing upon it, or 



418 



THE REVELATION 



attached any sanctity to it. If it was to be called the Lord's 
day from the fact of Christ's resurrection upon it, Inspiration 
would doubtless have somewhere so informed us. But there 
are other events equally essential to the plan of salvation, as, 
for instance, the crucifixion and the ascension; and in the ab- 
sence of all instruction upon the point, why not call the day 
upon which either of these occurred, the Lord's day, as well 
as the day upon which he rose from the dead ? 

4. The three positions already examined having been dis- 
proved, the fourth — that by Lord's day is meant the Sabbath 
of the Lord — now demands attention. And this of itself is 
susceptible of the clearest proof. 1. When God gave to man 
in the beginning six days of the week for labor, he expressly 
reserved the seventh day to himself, placed his blessing upon 
it, and claimed it as his holy day. 2. Moses told Israel in the 
wilderness of Sin on the sixth day of the week, " To-morrow 
is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord." We come to 
Sinai, where the great Lawgiver proclaimed his moral precepts 
in awful grandeur; and in that supreme code he thus lays 
claim to his hallowed day : " The seventh day is the Sabbath 
of the Lord thy God: . . . for in six days the Lord made 
heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested 
the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, 
and hallowed it." By the prophet Isaiah, about eight hundred 
years later, God spoke as follows : " If thou turn away thy 
foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy 
day, . . . then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord," etc. 
Isa. 58:13. We come down to !N"ew-Testament times, and 
He who is one with the Father declares expressly, " The Son 
of man is Lord also of the Sabbath." Can any man deny 
that that day is the Lord's day, of which he has emphatically 
declared that he is the Ljordf Thus we see that whether it 
be the Father or the Son whose title is involved, no other 
day can be called the Lord's day but the Sabbath of the great 
Creator. 

One more thought, and we leave this point. There is in 
this dispensation one day distinguished above the other days of 
the week as the Lord's day. How completely does this great 



CHAPTER 1, VERSES 10 - 18 



419 



fact disprove the claim put forth by some that there is no Sab- 
bath in this dispensation, but that all days are alike. And by 
calling it the Lord's day, the apostle has given us, near the 
close of the first century, apostolic sanction for the observance 
of the only day which can be called the Lord's day, which is 
the seventh day of the week. (See notes at close of chapter.) 

Verse 11. Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last : 
and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven 
churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and 
unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Phila- 
delphia, and unto Laodicea. 

On this verse Dr. A. Clarke remarks that the clause " I 
am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, is wanting in 
some editions ; the Syriac, Coptic, xEthiopic, Armenian, Sla- 
vonic, Vulgate, Arethas, Andreas, and Primasius. Griesbach 
has left it out of the text." He also states that the phrase 
" in Asia " is wanting in the principal MSS. and versions, 
and that Griesbach omits this too from the text. Bloomfield 
also marks the clause, " I am Alpha and Omega, the first and 
the last, and " — as without doubt an interpolation, and also 
the words " in Asia." It would then read, " saying, What 
thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches ; 
unto Ephesus," etc. (See translations of Whiting, Wesley, 
American Bible Union, and others. Compare remarks on 
verse 4.) 

Verse 12. And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. 
And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; 13. And in the 
midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed 
with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a 
golden girdle. 14. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as 
white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; 15. And his feet 
like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice 
as the sound of many waters. 16. And he had in his right hand seven 
stars; and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and his 
countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. IT. And when I 
saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon 
me, saying unto me, Fear not ; I am the first and the last : 18. I am he 
that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore, 
Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. 

/ turned to see the voice; that is, the person from whom 
the voice came. 



420 



THE REVELATION 



Seven Golden Candlesticks. — These cannot be the antitype 
of the golden candlestick of the ancient typical temple service; 
for that was but one candlestick with seven branches. That 
is ever spoken of in the singular number. But here are seven; 
and these are more properly " lamp-stands " than simply can- 
dlesticks, stands upon which lamps are set to give light in the 
room. And they bear no resemblance to the ancient candle- 
stick; on the contrary, the stands are so distinct, and so far 
separated one from another, that the Son of man is seen walk- 
ing about in the midst of them. 

The Son of Man. — The central and all-attractive figure of 
the scene now opened before John's vision is the majestic form 
of one like the Son of man, representing Christ. The descrip- 
tion here given of him, with his flowing robe, his hair white, 
not with age, but with the brightness of heavenly glory, his 
flaming eyes, his feet glowing like molten brass, and his voice 
as the sound of many waters, cannot be excelled for grandeur 
and sublimity. Overcome by the presence of this august Being, 
and perhaps under a keen sense of all human un worthiness, 
John fell at his feet as dead; but a comforting hand is laid 
upon him, and a voice of sweet assurance tells him to fear not. 
It is equally the privilege of Christians to-day to feel the same 
hand laid upon them to strengthen and comfort them in hours 
of trial and affliction, and to hear the same voice saying unto 
them, " Fear not." 

But the most cheering assurance in all these words of con- 
solation is the declaration of this exalted one who is alive for- 
evermore, that he is the arbiter of death and the grave. " I 
have," he says, " the keys of hell [aS^s, the grave] and of 
death." Death is a conquered tyrant. He may ply his gloomy 
labors age after age, gathering to the grave the precious of the 
earth, and gloat for a season over his apparent triumph; but 
he is performing a fruitless task ; for the key to his dark prison- 
house has been wrenched from his grasp, and is now held in 
the hands of a mightier than he. He is compelled to deposit 
his trophies in a region over which another has absolute con- 
trol ; and this one is the unchanging Friend and the pledged 
Redeemer of his people. Then grieve not for the righteous 



CHAPTER 1, VERSES 19, 20 



421 



dead; they are in safe keeping. An enemy for a while takes 
them away; but a friend holds the key to the place of their 
temporary confinement. 

Verse 19. Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things 
which are, and the things which shall be hereafter. 

A more definite command is given in this verse to John to 
write the entire Revelation, which would relate chiefly to things 
which were then in the future. In some few instances, events 
then in the past or then transpiring were referred to ; but these 
references were simply for the purpose of introducing events to 
be fulfilled after that time, and so that no link in the chain 
might be lacking. 

Verse 20. The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in 
my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars 
are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks 
which thou sawest are the seven churches. 

To represent the Son of man as holding in his hand only 
the ministers of seven literal churches in Asia Minor, and 
walking in the midst of only those seven churches, would be 
to reduce the sublime representations and declarations of this 
and following chapters to comparative insignificance. The 
providential care and presence of the Lord are with, not a 
specified number of churches only, but all his people ; not in 
the days of John merely, but through all time. " Lo ! I am 
with you alway," said he to his disciples, " even unto the. 
end of the world." (See remarks on verse 4.) 

Note. — An additional thought may be added to what is said 
about the claim that the first day of the week is meant by the term 
" Lord's day " in verse 10. If, when Christ said, " The Son of man 
is Lord even of the Sabbath day " (Matt. 12 : 8), he had said instead, 
" The Son of man is Lord of the first day of the week/' would not 
that now be set forth as conclusive proof that Sunday is the Lord's 
day? — Certainly, and with good reason. Then it ought to be al- 
lowed to have the same weight for the seventh day, in reference to 
which it was spoken. 




HAYING, in the first chapter, mapped out the subject by 
a general reference to the seven churches, represented 
by the seven candlesticks, and to the ministry of the 
churches, represented by the seven stars, John now takes up 
each church particularly, and writes the message designed for 
it, addressing the epistle in every case to the angel, or pas- 
tors, of the church. 

Verse 1. Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write: These 
things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who 
walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks ; 2. I know thy 
works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear 
them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are 
apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars : 3. And hast borne, 
and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast labored, and hast not 
fainted. 4. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou 
hast left thy first love. 5. Remember therefore from whence thou 
art fallen, and repent, and do the first works ; or else I will come unto 
thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, ex- 
cept thou repent. 6. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds 
of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate. 7. He that hath an ear, let 
him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches : To him that 
overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the 
midst of the paradise of God. 

The Church of Ephesus. — Some reasons why the seven 
churches, or more properly the messages to them, should be 
regarded as prophetic, having their application to seven dis- 
tinct periods covering the Christian age, have been given in 
the remarks on chapter 1:4. It may here be added that this 
view is neither new nor local. Benson quotes Bishop Newton 
(422) 



CHAPTER 2, VERSES 1 - 7 



423 



as saying, " Many contend, and among tliem snch learned men 
as More and Yitringa, that the seven epistles are prophetical 
of so many successive periods, or states, of the church, from 
the beginning to the conclusion of all." 

Scott says: " Many expositors have imagined that these 
epistles to the seven churches were mystical prophecies of seven 
distinct periods, into which the whole term, from the apostles' 
days to the end of the world, would be divided." 

Although Newton and Scott do not themselves hold this 
view, their testimony is good as showing that such has been 
the view of many expositors. Matthew Henry says: — 

"An opinion has been held by some commentators of note, 
which may be given in the words of Yitringa : ' That under 
this emblematical representation of the seven churches of Asia, 
the Holy Spirit has delineated seven different states of the 
Christian church, which would appear in succession, extending 
to the coming of our Lord and the consummation of all things ; 
that this is given in descriptions taken from the names, states, 
and conditions of these churches, so that they might behold 
themselves, and learn both their good qualities and their de- 
fects, and what admonitions and exhortations were suitable for 
them.' Yitringa has given a summary of the arguments which 
may be alleged in favor of this interpretation. Some of them 
are ingenious, but they are not now considered sufficient to sup- 
port such a theory. Gill is one of the principal of the English 
commentators who adopt this view, that ' they are prophetical 
of the churches of Christ in the several periods of time until 
he appears again.' " 

It appears from the authors above cited, that what has led 
commentators of more modern times to discard the view of the 
prophetical nature of the messages to the seven churches, is 
the comparatively recent and unscriptural doctrine of the tem- 
poral millennium. The last stage of the church, as described 
in chapter 3:15- 17, was deemed to be incompatible with the 
glorious state of things which would exist here on this earth 
for a thousand years, with all the world converted to God. 
Hence in this case, as in many others, the more Scriptural 
view is made to yield to the more pleasing. The hearts of 
27 * . . 



424 



THE REVELATION 



men, as in ancient times, still love smooth things, and their 
ears are ever favorably open to those who will prophesy peace. 

The first church named is Ephesus. According to the ap- 
plication here made, this would cover the first, or apostolic age 
of the church. The definition of the word Ephesus is desir- 
able, which may well be taken as a good descriptive term of 
the character and condition of the church in its first state. 
Those early Christians had received the doctrine of Christ in 
its purity. They enjoyed the benefits and blessings of the 
gifts of the Holy Spirit. They were noted for works, labor, 
and patience. In faithfulness to the pure principles taught 
by Christ, they could not bear those that were, evil, and they 
tried false apostles, searched out their true characters, and 
found them liars. That this work was specially done by the 
literal and particular church at Ephesus more than by other 
churches of that time, we have no evidence ; there is nothing 
said about it by Paid in the epistle he wrote to that church ; 
but it was done by the Christian church as a whole, in that 
age, and was a most appropriate work at that time. (See 
Acts 15; 2 Cor. 11: 13.) 

The Angel of the Church. — The angel of a church must 
denote a messenger, or minister, of that church; and as these 
churches each cover a period of time, the angel of each church 
must denote the ministry, or all the true ministers of Christ 
during the period covered by that church. The different mes- 
sages, though addressed to the ministers, cannot be understood 
to be applicable to them alone; but they are appropriately ad- 
dressed to the church through them. 

The Cause of Complaint. — " I have somewhat against 
thee," says Christ, " because thou hast left thy first love." 
" Not less worthy of warning than departure from fundamental 
doctrine or from Scriptural morality, is the leaving of first love. 
The charge here is not that of falling from grace, nor that 
love is extinguished, but diminished. No zeal, no suffering, 
can atone for the ' want of first love." — Thompson. . The 
time never should come in a Christian's experience, when, if 
he were asked to mention the period of his greatest love to 
Christ, he would not say, The present moment. But if such 



CHAPTER 2, VERSES 1 - 7 



425 



a time does come, then should lie remember from whence he 
is fallen, meditate upon it, take time for it, carefully call up 
the state of his former acceptance with God, and then hasten 
to repent, and retrace his steps to that desirable position. 
Love, like faith, is manifested by works; and first love, when 
it is attained, will always bring first works. 

The Threatening. — " I will come unto thee quickly, and 
will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent." 
The coming here mentioned must be a figurative coming, sig- 
nifying a visitation of judgment, inasmuch as it is conditional. 
The removing of the candlestick would denote the taking away 
from them of the light and privileges of the gospel, and com- 
mitting them to other hands, unless they should better fulfil 
the responsibilities of the trust committed to them. But it 
may be asked on the view that these messages are prophetic, 
if the candlestick would not be removed anyway, whether 
they repented or not, as that church was succeeded by the 
next, to occupy the next, period, and if this is not an objec- 
tion against regarding these churches as prophetic. Answer: 
The expiration of the period covered by any church is not the 
removal of the candlestick of that church. The removal of 
their candlestick would be taking away from them privileges 
which they might and should longer enjoy. It would be the 
rejection of them on the part of Christ as his representatives, 
to bear the light of his truth and gospel before the world. 
And this threatening wonjd be just as applicable to individ- 
uals as to the church as a body. How many who professed 
Christianity during that period thus came short and were re- 
jected, we know not; doubtless many. And thus things would 
go on, some remaining steadfast, some backsliding and becom- 
ing no longer light-bearers in the world, new converts mean- 
while filling up the vacancies made by death and apostasy, 
until the church reached a new era in her experience, marked 
off as another period in her history, and covered by another 
message. 

The Nicolaitanes. — How ready is Christ to commend his 
people for whatever good qualities they may possess ! If there 
is anything of which he approves, he mentions that first. And 



426 



THE REVELATION 



in this message to the church of Ephesus, having first men- 
tioned their commendable traits and then their failures, as if 
unwilling to pass by any of their good qualities he mentions 
this, that they hated the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which he 
also hated. In verse 15 the doctrines of the same characters 
are condemned. It appears that they were a class of persons 
whose deeds and doctrines were alike abominable in the sight 
of Heaven. Their origin is involved in some doubt. Some 
say that they sprang from Nicholas of Antioch, one of the seven 
deacons (Acts 6:5); some, that they only attribute their origin 
to him to gain the prestige of his name; and others, that the 
sect took its name from one Nicholas of later date, which is 
probably the nearest correct. Concerning their doctrines and 
practices, there seems to be a general agreement that they held 
to a community of wives, regarding adultery and fornication as 
things indifferent, and permitted the eating of things offered to 
idols. (See Religious Encyclopedia, Clarke, Kitto, and other 
authorities. ) 

The Summons to Attention. — " He that hath an ear, let 
him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. " A solemn 
manner of calling universal attention to that which is of general 
and most momentous importance. The same language is used 
to each of the seven churches. Christ, when upon earth, made 
use of the same form of speech in calling the attention of the 
people to the most important of his teachings. He used it in 
reference to the mission of John (Matt. 11 : 15), the parable of 
the sower (Matt. 13: 9), and the parable of the tares, setting 
forth the end of the world. Verse 43. It is also used in 
relation to an important prophetic fulfilment in Rev. 13 : 9. 

The Promise to the Victor. — To the overcomer it is prom- 
ised that he shall eat of the tree of life that grows in the midst 
of the paradise, or garden, of God. Where is this paradise % 
Answer : In the third heaven. Paul writes, in 2 Cor. 12:2, 
that he knew a man (referring to himself) caught up to the 
third heaven. In verse 4 he calls the same place " paradise," 
leaving only one conclusion to be drawn, which is that para- 
dise is in the third heaven. In this paradise, it seems, is the 
tree of life. There is but one tree of life brought to view in 



CHAPTER 2, VERSES 1 - 7 



427 



the Bible. It is mentioned six times, three times in Genesis, 
and three times in the Revelation; but it is nsed every time 
with the definite article the. It is the tree of life in the first 
book of the Bible, the tree of life in the last; the tree of life 
in the " paradise " (Septnagint) in Eden at the beginning, 
and the tree of life in the paradise of which John now speaks, 
in heaven above. Bnt if there is bnt one tree, and that was at 
first upon earth, it may be asked how it has now come to be 
in heaven. And the answer wonld be that it mnst have been 
taken np, or translated, to the paradise above. There is no 
possible way that the same identical body which is situated in 
one place can be located in another, but by being transported 
bodily thither. And that the tree of life and paradise have 
been removed from earth to heaven, besides the necessary 
inference from this argument, there is very good reason to 
believe. 

In 2 Esdras 7: 26 occurs this language: " Behold, the time 
shall come, that these tokens which I have told thee shall come 
to pass, and the bride shall appear, and she coining forth shall 
be seen that now is withdrawn from the earth." There is an 
evident allusion here to the " bride, the Lamb's wife " (Rev. 
21: 9), which is the " holy city, Xew Jerusalem" (verse 10; 
Gal. 4: 26), in which is the tree of life (Rev. 22 : 2), which is 
now " withdrawn from the earth," but which will in due time 
appear, and be located among men. Rev. 21 : 2, 3. 

The following paragraph on this point we quote from 
Kurtz's "Sacred History," p. 50: — 

" The act of God in appointing the cherubim 'to keep the 
way of the tree of life ? (Gen. 3 : 24), in the garden of Eden, 
likewise appears not only in an aspect indicating judicial se- 
verity, but also in one which conveys a promise full of con- 
solation. The blessed abode from which man is expelled, is 
neither annihilated nor even abandoned to desolation and ruin, 
but withdrawn from the earth 'and from man, and consigned 
to the care of the most perfect creatures of God, in order that 
it may be ultimately restored to man when he is redeemed. 
Rev. 22 : 2. The garden, as it existed before God 6 planted,' 
or adorned it, came under the curse, like the remainder of the 



428 



THE REVELATION 



earth, but the celestial and paradisiacal addition was exempted, 
and entrusted to the cherubim. The true paradise is now 
translated to the invisible world. At least a symbolical copy 
of it, established in the holy of holies in the tabernacle, was 
granted to the people of Israel after the pattern which Moses 
saw in the mount (Ex. 25 : 9, 40) ; and the original itself, as 
the renewed habitation of redeemed man, will hereafter de- 
scend to the earth. Rev. 21:10." 

To the overcomer, then, is promised a restoration to more 
than Adam lost; not to the overcomers of that state of the 
church merely, but to all overcomers of every age; for in the 
great rewards of Heaven there are no restrictions. Reader, 
strive to be an overcomer; for he who gains access to the tree 
of life in the midst of the paradise of God, shall die no more. 

The time covered by this first church may be considered 
the period from the resurrection of Christ to the close of the 
first century, or to the death of the last of the apostles. 

Verse 8. And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write: 
These things saith the first and the last, which was dead and is alive; 
9. I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty (but thou art rich), 
and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and 
are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. 10. Tear none of those 
things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of 
you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation 
ten days : be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown 
of life. 11. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith 
unto the churches: He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the 
second death. 

It will be noticed that the Lord introduces himself to each 
church by mentioning some of his characteristics which show 
him to be peculiarly fitted to bear to them the testimony which 
he utters. To the Smyrnian church, about to pass through the 
fiery ordeal of persecution, he reveals himself as one who was 
dead, but is now alive. If they should be called to seal their 
testimony with their blood, they were to remember that the 
eyes of One were upon them who had shared the same fate, 
but had triumphed over death, and was able to bring them up 
again from a martyr's grave. 



CHAPTER 2, VERSES S - 11 



429 



Poverty and Riches. — " I know thy poverty/' says Christ 
to them, kk but thou art rich." Strange paradox this may 
seem at first. But who are the truly rich in this world ? — 
Those who are " rich in faith " and " heirs of the kingdom." 
The wealth of this world, for which men so eagerly strive, 
and so often barter away present happiness and future end- 
less life, is " coin not current in heaven." A certain writer 
has forcibly remarked, " There is many a rich poor man, and 
many a poor rich man." 

Say They are Jews, and Are Not. — That the term J ew is 
not here used in a literal sense, is very evident. It denotes 
some character which was approved by the gospel standard. 
Paul's language will make this point plain. He says (Rom. 
2:28, 29): "For he is not a Jew which is one outwardly: 
neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh ; but 
he is a Jew [in the true Christian sense] which is one in- 
wardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, 
and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God." 
Again he says (chapter 9:6, 7) : " For they are not all Israel 
which are of Israel ; neither, because they are the seed of Abra- 
ham, are they all children." In Gal. 3: 28, 29, Paul further 
tells us that in Christ there are no such outward distinctions 
as Jew or Greek; but if we are Christ's, then are we Abraham's 
seed (in the true sense), and heirs according to the promise. 
To say, as some do, that the term Jew is never applied to 
Christians, is to contradict all these inspired declarations of 
Paul's, and the testimony of the faithful and true Witness to 
the Smyrnian church. Some were hypocritically pretending 
to be J ews in this Christian sense, when they possessed nothing 
of the requisite character. Such were of the synagogue of 
Satan. 

Tribulation Ten Days. — As this message is prophetic, the 
time mentioned in it must also be regarded as prophetic, and 
would denote ten years. And it is a noticeable fact that the 
last and most bloody of the ten persecutions continued just ten 
years, under Diocletian, from a. d. 302 to a. d. 312. (See 
Buck's Theological Dictionary, pp. 332, 333.) It would be 
difficult to make an application of this language on the ground 



430 



THE REVELATION 



that these messages are not prophetic; for in that case only ten 
literal days could be meant; and it would not seem probable 
that a persecution of only ten days, or only a single church, 
would be made a matter of prophecy ; and no mention of any 
such case of limited persecution can be found. Again, apply 
this persecution to any of the notable persecutions of that pe- 
riod, and how could it be spoken of as the fate of one church 
alone ? All the churches suffered in them ; and where, then, 
would be the propriety of singling out one, to the exclusion of 
the rest, as alone involved in such a calamity 1 

Faithful unto Death. — Some have endeavored to base a 
criticism on the use of the word unto, instead of until, as 
though the idea of time was not involved. But the original 
word, axpt, rendered unto, signifies, primarily, until. No ar- 
gument, however, can be drawn from this for consciousness 
in death. The vital point for such an argument is still lack- 
ing; for it is not affirmed that the crown of life is bestowed 
immediately at death. We must consequently look to other 
scriptures to learn when the crown of life is given ; and other 
scriptures very fully inform us. Paul declares that this crown 
is to be given at the day of Christ's appearing (2 Tim. 4: 
8); at the last trump (1 Cor. 15:51-54); when the Lord 
shall himself descend from heaven (1 Thess. 4: 16, 17) ; when 
the Chief Shepherd shall appear, says Peter (1 Peter 5:4); 
at the resurrection of the just, says Christ (Luke 14:14); 
and when he shall return to take his people to the mansions 
prepared for them, that they may ever be with him. John 
14 : 3. " Be thou faithful until death ; " and having been 
thus faithful, when the time comes that the saints of God are 
rewarded, you shall receive a crown of life. 

The 0 ver comer s Reward. — " He shall not be hurt of the 
second death." Is not the language Christ here uses a good 
comment upon what he taught his disciples, when he said, 
"And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to 
kill the soul : but rather fear him which is able to destroy both 
soul and body in hell"? Matt. 10:28. The Smyrnians 
might be put to death here; but the future life, which was to 
be given them, man could not take away, and God would not; 



CHAPTER 2, VERSES 8 - IT 



433 



hence they were to fear not those who could kill the body, — ■ 
to " fear none of the things which they should suffer;" for 
their eternal existence was sure. 

Smyrna signifies myrrh, fit appellation for the church of 
God while passing through the fiery furnace of persecution, 
and proving herself a " sweet-smelling savor " unto him. But 
we soon reach the days of Constantine, when the church pre- 
sents a new phase, rendering a far different name and an- 
other message applicable to her history. 

According to the foregoing application, the date of the 
Smyrnian church would be a. d. 100 - 323. 

Verse 12. And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write : 
These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges: 
13. I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's 
seat is; and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, 
even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was 
slain among you, where Satan dwelleth. 14. But I have a few things 
against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of 
Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the 
children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit 
fornication. 15. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of 
the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate. 16. Repent; or else I will 
come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword 
of my mouth. 17. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit 
saith unto the churches : To him that overcometh will I give to eat 
of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the 
stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that re- 
ceiveth it. 

Against the church of Smyrna, which has just been con- 
sidered, there was no word of condemnation uttered. Perse- 
cution is ever calculated to keep the church pure, and incite 
its members to piety and godliness. But we now reach a pe- 
riod when influences began to work through which errors and 
evils were likely to creep into the church. 

The word Pergamos signifies height, elevation. The pe- 
riod covered by this church may be located from the days of 
Constantine, or perhaps, rather, from his professed conversion 
to Christianity, a. d. 323, to the establishment of the papacy, 
a. d. 538. It was a period in which the true servants of God 
had to struggle against a spirit of worldly policy, pride, and 
popularity among the professed followers of Christ, and 



434 



THE REVELATION 



against tlie virulent workings of the mystery of iniquity, 
which finally resulted in the full development of the papal 
man of sin. 

Where Satan s Seat Is. — Christ takes cognizance of the 
unfavorable situation of his people during this period. The 
language is not probably designed to denote locality. As to 
place, Satan works wherever Christians dwell. But surely 
there are times and seasons when he works with special power ; 
and the period covered by the church of Pergamos was one 
of these. During this period, the doctrine of Christ was being 
corrupted, the mystery of iniquity was working, and Satan 
was laying the very foundation of that most stupendous system 
of wickedness, the papacy. Here was the falling away fore- 
told by Paul in 2 Thess. 2 : 3. 

Antipas. — That a class of persons is referred to by this 
name, and not an individual, there is good reason to believe; 
for no authentic information respecting such an individual is 
now to be found. On this point William Miller says: — 

" It is supposed that Antipas was not an. individual, but a 
class of men who opposed the power of the bishops, or popes, 
in that day, being a combination of two words, anti, opposed, 
and papas, father, or pope ; and at that time many of them 
suffered martyrdom in Constantinople and Pome, where the 
bishops and popes began to exercise the power which soon after 
brought into subjection the kings of the earth, and trampled 
on the rights of the church of Christ. And for myself, I see 
no reason to reject this explanation of this word Antipas in 
this text, as the history of those times is perfectly silent re- 
specting such an individual as is here named." — Miller s Lec- 
tures, pp. 138, 139. 

Watson says, a Ancient ecclesiastical history furnishes no 
account of this Antipas." Dr. Clarke mentions a work as ex- 
tant called the "Acts of Antipas," but gives us to understand 
that it is entitled to no credit. 

The Cause of Censure. — 'Disadvantages in situation are 
no excuse for wrongs in the church. Although this church 
lived at a time when Satan was especially at work, it was 
their duty to keep themselves pure from the leaven of his 



CHAPTER 2, VERSES 12 - 17 



435 



evil doctrines. Hence they were censured for harboring among 
them those who held the doctrines of Balaam and the Nicolai- 
tanes. (See remarks on the Nicolaitanes, verse 6.) What 
the doctrine of Balaam was, is here partially revealed. He 
taught Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the children of 
Israel. (See a full account of his work and its results in 
Numbers, chapters 22-25 and 31:13-16.) It appears that 
Balaam desired to curse Israel for the sake of the rich reward 
which Balak offered him for so doing. But not being per- 
mitted by the Lord to curse them, he resolved to accomplish 
essentially the same thing, though in a different way. He 
therefore counseled Balak to seduce them, by means of the fe- 
males of Moab, to participate in the celebration of the rites of 
idolatry, and all its licentious accompaniments. The plan 
succeeded. The abominations of idolatry spread through the 
camp of Israel, the curse of God was called down upon them 
by their sins, and there fell by the plague twenty-four thou- 
sand persons. 

The doctrines complained of in the church of Pergamos 
were of course similar in their tendency, leading to spiritual 
idolatry, and an unlawful connection between the church and 
the world. Out of this spirit was finally produced the union 
of the civil and ecclesiastical powers, which culminated in the 
formation of the papacy. 

Repent. — By disciplining or expelling those who hold 
these pernicious doctrines. Christ declared that if they did 
not do this, he would take the matter into his own hands, and 
come unto them (in judgment), and fight against them (those 
who held these evil doctrines) ; and the whole church would be 
held responsible for the wrongs of those heretical ones whom 
they harbored in their midst. 

The Promise. — To the overcomer it is promised that he 
shall eat of the hidden manna, and receive from his approving 
Lord a white stone, with a new and precious name engraved 
thereon. Concerning manna that is " hidden," and a new 
name that no one is to know but he that receives it, not much 
in the way of exposition should be required. But there has 
been much conjecture upon these points, and an allusion to 



436 



THE REVELATION 



them may be expected. Most commentators apply the manna, 
white stone, and new name, to spiritual blessings to be enjoyed 
in this life; but like all the other promises to the overcomer, 
this one doubtless refers wholly to the future, and is to be 
given when the time comes that the saints are to be rewarded. 
Perhaps the following from the late H. Blunt is as satisfactory 
as anything that has ever been written upon these several 
particulars : — 

" It is generally thought by commentators that this refers 
to an ancient judicial custom of dropping a black stone into 
an urn when it is intended to condemn, and a white stone 
when the prisoner is to be acquitted; but this is an act so dis- 
tinct from that described, i I will give thee a white stone/ 
that we are disposed to agree with those who think it refers 
rather to a custom of a very different kind, and not unknown to 
the classical reader, according with beautiful propriety to the 
case before us. In primitive times, when traveling was ren- 
dered difficult from want of places of public entertainment, 
hospitality was exercised by private individuals to a very great 
extent, of which, indeed, we find frequent traces in all history, 
and in none more than the Old Testament. Persons who par- 
took of this hospitality, and those who practiced it, frequently 
contracted habits of friendship and regard for each other, and 
it became a well-established custom among the Greeks and Ro- 
mans to provide their guests with some particular mark, which 
was handed down from father to son, and insured hospitality 
and kind treatment whenever it was presented. This mark 
was usually a small stone or pebble, cut in half, upon the 
halves of which the host and guest mutually inscribed their 
names, and then interchanged with each other. The produc- 
tion of this tessera was quite sufficient to insure friendship for 
themselves or descendants whenever they traveled again in the 
same direction, while it is evident that these stones required to 
be privately kept, and the names written upon them carefully 
concealed, lest others should obtain the privileges instead of 
the persons for whom they were intended. 

" How natural, then, the allusion to this custom in the 
words of the text, i I will give him to eat of the hidden 



CHAPTER 2, VERSES 12 - 29 



437 



manna ! ' and having clone this, having made him partake of 
my hospitality, having recognized him as my gnest and friend, 
I will present him with the white stone, and in the stone a 
new name written, which no man knoweth save he who receiv- 
eth it. I will give him a pledge of my friendship, sacred and 
inviolable, known only to himself." 

On the new name, Wesley very appropriately says : — 
" J acob, after his victory, gained the new name of Israel. 
Wonldst thou know what thy new name will be ? The way to 
this is plain — overcome. Till then, all thy inquiries are vain. 
Thou wilt then read it on the white stone." 

Verse 18. And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write: 
These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a 
flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass ; 19. I know thy works, 
and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works ; 
and the last to be more than the first. 20. Notwithstanding I have 
a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, 
which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants 
to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. 21. 
And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented 
not. 22. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit 
adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their 
deeds. 23. And I will kill her children with death; and all the 
churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and 
hearts : and I will give unto every one of you according to your works. 
24. But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as 
have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of 
Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden. 25. 
But that which ye have already hold fast till I come. 26. And he 
that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will 
I give power over the nations : 27. And he shall rule them with a rod 
of iron ; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers : 
even as I received of my Father. 28. And I will give him the morn- 
ing star. 29. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit 
saith unto the churches. 

If the period covered by the Pergamos church has been 
correctly located, terminating with the setting up of the pa- 
pacy, a. ix 538, the most natural division to be assigned to 
the church of Thyatira would be the time of the continuance 
of this blasphemous power through the 1260 years of its su- 
premacy, or from a. d. 538 to a. d. 1798. 

Thyatira signifies " sweet savor of labor," or " sacrifice of 
contrition." This would well describe the state of the church 



438 



THE REVELATION 



of Jesus Christ during the long period of papal triumph and 
persecution. This age of such dreadful tribulation upon the 
church as never was (Matt. 24:21), improved the religious 
condition of believers. Hence they receive for their works, 
charity, service, faith, and patience, the commendation of Him 
whose eyes are as a name of fire. And works are then again 
mentioned, as if worthy of double commendation. And the 
last were more than the first. There had been an improve- 
ment in their condition, a growth of grace, an increase in all 
these elements of Christianity. This church is the only one 
that is commended for an improvement in spiritual things. 
But as in the church of Pergamos unfavorable circumstances 
were no apology for false doctrines in the church, so in this 
church, no amount of labor, charity, service, faith, or patience 
could compensate for a like sin. A rebuke is therefore given 
them for suffering in their midst — 

That Woman Jezebel. — As in the preceding church Antipas 
denoted, not an individual, but a class of persons, so, doubt- 
less, Jezebel is here to be understood in the same sense. Wat- 
son's Bible Dictionary says, " The name of Jezebel is used 
proverbially. Rev. 2 : 20." William Miller, Lectures, p. 142, 
speaks as follows: — 

" Jezebel is a figurative name, alluding to Ahab's wife, who 
slew the prophets of the Lord, led her husband into idolatry, 
and fed the prophets of Baal at her own table. A more strik- 
ing figure could not have been used to denote the papal abom- 
inations. (See 1 Kings, chapters 18, 19, and 21). It is very 
evident from history, as well as from this verse, that the 
church of Christ did suffer some of the papal monks to preach 
and teach among them. ( See the ' History of the Wal- 
denses.') " 

The Comprehensive Commentary has the following remark 
upon verse 23 : " Children are spoken of, which confirms the 
idea that a sect and its proselytes are meant." The judg- 
ments here threatened against this woman are in harmony with 
the threatenings in other parts of this book against the Romish 
Church under the symbol of a corrupt woman, the mother of 
harlots and abominations of the earth. (See chapters 17 - 19.) 



CHAPTER 2, VERSES 18 - 29 



439 



The death which is threatened is doubtless the second death, at 
the end of the one thousand years of Revelation 20, when the 
righteous retribution from the Searcher of " the reins and 
hearts " of all men will be given. And further, the declara- 
tion, " I will give unto every one of you according to your 
works/' is proof that the address to this church looks forward 
prophetically to the final reward or punishment of all account- 
able beings. 

And All the Churches Shall Know, etc. — It has been ar- 
gued from this expression that these churches could not denote 
seven successive periods of the gospel age, but must exist con- 
temporaneously, as otherwise all the churches could not know 
that Christ was the searcher of the reins and hearts from see- 
ing his judgments upon Jezebel and her children. But when 
is it that all the churches are to know this \ — It is when these 
children are punished with death. And if this is at the time 
when the second death is inflicted upon all the wicked, then 
indeed will u all the churches," as they behold the infliction 
of the judgment, know that no secret thing, no evil thought 
or purpose of the heart, has escaped the knowledge of Him, 
who, with eyes like flames of fire, searches the hearts and 
reins of men. 

I Will Lay upon You None Other Burden. — A respite 
promised the church, if we rightly apprehend, from the bur- 
den, so long her portion, — the weight of papal oppression. It 
cannot be applied to the reception of new truths; for truth is 
not a burden to any accountable being. But the days of 
tribulation that came upon that church were to be shortened 
for the elect's sake. Matt. 24: 22. " They shall be holpen," 
says the prophet, " with a little help." Dan. 11 : 34. "And 
the earth helped the woman," says John. Rev. 12:16. 

Hold Fast till I Come. — These are the words of the " Son 
of God," and bring to our view an unconditional coming. To 
the churches of Ephesus and Pergamos, certain comings were 
threatened on conditions : " Repent, or else I will come unto 
thee," etc., implying visitations of judgment. But here a com- 
ing of a different nature altogether is brought to view. It is 
not a threatening of punishment. It is suspended upon no 
28 



440 



THE REVELATION 



conditions. It is set before the believer as a matter of hope, 
and can refer to no other event bnt the future second advent 
of the Lord in glory, when the Christian's trials will cease, 
and his efforts in the race for life, and his warfare for a crown 
of righteousness, will be rewarded with everlasting success. 

This church brings us down to the time when the more 
immediate signs of the soon-coming advent began to be ful- 
filled. In 1780, eighteen years before the close of this period, 
the predicted signs in the sun and moon were fulfilled. (See 
chapter 6:12.) And in reference to these signs the Saviour 
said: "And when these things begin to come to pass, then 
look up, and lift up your heads ; for your redemption draweth 
nigh." In the history of this church we reach a point when 
the end is drawing so near that the attention of the people 
could properly be called more particularly to that event. All 
along Christ has said to his followers, " Occupy till I come." 
Luke 19 : 13. Now he says, " Hold fast till I come." 

Till the End. — The end of the Christian age. " He that 
shall endure unto the end," says Christ, " the same shall be 
saved." Matt. 24:13. Is not here a like promise to those 
who keep Christ's works, do the things he has enjoined, keep 
the faith of Jesus ? Chapter 14 : 12. 

Power over the Nations. — In this world the r wicked bear 
rule, and the servants of Christ are of no esteem. But the 
time is coming when righteousness will be in the ascendency; 
when all ungodliness will be seen in its true light, and be at a 
heavy discount; and when the scepter of power will be in the 
hands of the people of God. This promise will be explained 
by the following facts and scriptures: (1) The nations are 
to be given by the Father into the hands of Christ, to be ruled 
with a rod of iron, and dashed in pieces like a potter's vessel 
(Ps. 2 : 8, 9) ; (2) Associated with Christ when he thus enters 
upon his own work of power and judgment, are to be his saints 
(Rev. 3 : 21) ; (3) They are to reign with him in this capacity 
for one thousand years (chapter 20: 4) ; (4) During this pe- 
riod, the degree of judgment upon wicked men and evil angels 
is determined (1 Cor. 6:2, 3); (5) At the end of the one 



CHAPTER 2, VERSES 18-29 



441 



thousand years, they have the honor of sharing with Christ in 
the execution of the sentence written. Ps. 149 : 9. 

The Morning Star. — Christ says, in chapter 22 : 16, that 
he is himself the morning star. The morning star is the im- 
mediate forerunner of the day. What is here called the morn- 
ing star, is called the day star in 2 Peter 1 : 19, where it is 
associated with the dawn of the day: " Until the day dawn, 
and the day star arise." During the saints' weary night of 
watching, they have the word of God to shed its needful light 
upon their path. . But when the day star shall arise in their 
hearts, or the morning star he given to the overcomers, they 
will he taken into so close a relationship to Christ that their 
hearts will he fully illuminated with his Spirit, and they will 
walk in his light. Then they will no longer need the sure 
word of prophecy, which now shines as a light in a dark place. 
Hasten on, O glorious hour, when the light of heaven's bright 
day shall rise upon the pathway of the little flock, and beams 
of glory from the eternal world shall gild their banners ! 




Verse 1. And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write: 
These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the 
seven stars : I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou liv- 
est, and art dead. 2. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which 
remain, that are ready to die : for I have not found thy works perfect 
before God. 3. Remember therefore how thou hast received and 
heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, 
I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour 
I will come upon thee. 4. Thou hast a few names even in Sardis 
which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me 
in white: for they are worthy. 5. He that overcometh, the same 
shall be clothed in white raiment ; and I will not blot out his name 
out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, 
and before his angels. 6. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the 
Spirit saith unto the churches. 

IF the dates of the preceding churches have been correctly 
fixed, the period covered by the church of Sardis must 
commence about the year 1798. Sardis signifies " prince 
or song of joy/' or " that which remains." "We then have be- 
fore us, as constituting this church, the reformed churches, 
from the date above named to the great movement which 
marked another era in the history of the people of God. 

The great fault found with this church is that it has a 
name to live, but is dead. And what a high position, in a 
worldly point of view, lias the nominal church occupied during 
this period ! Look at her high-sounding titles, and her favor 
with the world. But how have pride and popularity grown 
apace, until spirituality is destroyed, the line of distinction 
between the church and the world is obliterated, and these dif- 
(442) 



CHAPTER 8, VERSES 1 - 6 



443 



ferent popular bodies are churches of Christ only in name! 

This church was to hear the proclamation of the doctrine 
of the second advent, as we learn from verse 3 : " If therefore 
thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief." This 
implies that the doctrine of the advent would be proclaimed, 
and the duty of watching be enjoined upon the church. The 
coming spoken of is unconditional; the manner only in which 
it would come upon them is conditional. Their not watching 
would not prevent the coming of the Lord; but by watching 
they could avoid being overtaken as by a thief. It is only to 
those who are in this condition that the day of the Lord comes 
unawares. " Ye, brethren," says Paul, " are not in darkness, 
that that day should overtake you as a thief." 1 Thess. 5 : 4. 

A Few Names even in Sardis. — This language would 
seem to imply a period of unparalleled worldliness in the 
church. But even in this state of things, there are some 
whose garments are not defiled, — some who have kept them- 
selves free from this contaminating influence. James says, 
" Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is 
this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and 
to keep himself unspotted from the world/' James 1: 27. 

Shall Walk with Me in White. — ■ The Lord does not over- 
look his people in any place, however few their numbers. 
Lonely Christian, with none of like precious faith with whom 
to commune, do you ever feel as if the hosts of the unbe- 
lievers would swallow you up % You are not unnoticed or for- 
gotten by your Lord. The multitude of the wicked around 
you cannot be so great as to hide you from his view: and if 
you keep yourself unspotted from surrounding evil, the prom- 
ise is sure to you. You shall be clothed in white, — the white 
raiment of the overcomer, — and walk with your Lord in glory. 
See chapter 7 : 17 : " For the Lamb which is in the midst 
of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto liv- 
ing fountains of waters; and God shall wipe away all tears 
from their eyes." 

White Raiment. — • Being clothed with white raiment is 
explained in other scriptures to be a symbol of exchanging 
iniquity for righteousness. (See Zech. 3:4, 5.) "Take 



444 



THE REVELATION 



away the filthy garments from him," is explained by the lan- 
guage that follows, " Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to 
pass from thee." " The fine linen," or the white raiment, 
"is the righteousness of saints." Rev. 19:8. 

The Booh of Life. — Object of thrilling interest ! Vast 
and ponderous volume, in which are enrolled the names of 
all the candidates for everlasting life ! And is there danger, 
after our names have once been entered in that heavenly jour- 
nal, that they may be blotted out ? — Yes ; or this warning 
would never have been penned. Paul, even, feared that he 
himself might become a castaway. 1 Cor. 9 : 27. It is only 
by being overcomers at last that our names can be retained 
in that book. But all will not overcome. Their names, of 
course, will be blotted out. And reference is made to some 
definite point of time in the future for this work. " I will 
not," says Christ (in the future), blot out the names of the 
overcomers, which is also saying, by implication, that at the 
same time he will blot out the names of those who do not over- 
come. Is not this the same time mentioned by Peter in Acts 
3:19? " Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your 
sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall 
come from the presence of the Lord." To say to the over- 
comer that his name shall not be blotted out of the book of 
life, is to say also that his sins shall be blotted out of the 
book wherein they are recorded, to be remembered against him 
no more forever. Ileb. 8 : 12. And this is to be when the 
times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord; may 
we not also add, in that other language of Peter, When the 
day star shall arise in our hearts, or the morning star be given 
to the church, just jorevious to .the advent of the Lord to usher 
in the glorious day ? 2 Peter 1:19; Rev. 2:28. And when 
that hour of decision shall come, which can not now be a great 
way in the future, how, reader, will it be with you? Will 
your sins be blotted out, and your name be retained in the 
book of life ? or will your name be blotted out of the book of 
life, and your sins be left to bear their fearful record against 
you ? ■ ■ i - 



CHAPTER 3, VERSES 5 - 13 



445 



The Presentation in Glory. — ■ " I will confess his name 
before my Father, and before his angels." Christ taught here 
upon earth, that as men confessed or denied, despised or hon- 
ored him here, they would be confessed or denied by him be- 
fore his Father in heaven and the holy angels. Matt. 10: 
32, 33; Mark 8:38; Luke 12:8, 9. And who can fathom 
the honor of being approved before the heavenly hosts ! Who 
can conceive the bliss of that moment when we shall be owned, 
by the Lord of life before his Father as those who have done 
his will, fought the good fight, run the race, honored him be- 
fore men, overcome, and whose names are worthy, through his 
merits, of standing upon the imperishable record of the book 
of life forever and ever ! 

Verse 7. And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: 
These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the 
key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth 
and no man openeth ; 8. I know thy works : behold, I have set before 
thee an open door, and no man can shut it : for thou hast a little 
strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. 9. 
Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they 
are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come 
and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. 
10. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep 
thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the 
world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. 11. Behold, I come 
quickly : hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. 
12. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my 
God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the 
name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is New 
Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I 
will write upon him my new name. 13. He that hath an ear, let 
him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. 

The word Philadelphia signifies brotherly love, and ex- 
presses the position and spirit of those who received the Advent 
message up to the autumn of 1844. As they came out of the 
sectarian churches, they left party names and party feelings 
behind; and every heart beat in union, as they gave the alarm 
to the churches and to the world, and pointed to the coming of 
the Son of man as the believer's true hope. Selfishness and 
covetousness were laid aside, and a spirit of consecration and 
sacrifice was cherished. The Spirit of God was with every 



446 



THE REVELATION 



true believer, and his praise upon every tongue. Those who 
were not in that movement know nothing of the deep search- 
ing of heart, consecration of all to God, peace, joy in the Holy 
Spirit, and pure, fervent love for one another, which true be- 
lievers then enjoyed. Those who were in that movement are 
aware that language would fail to describe that holy, happy 
state. 

The Key of David. — A key is a symbol of power. The 
Son of God is the rightful heir to David's throne; and he is 
about to take to himself his great power, and to reign; hence 
he is represented as having the key of David. The throne of 
David, or of Christ, on which he is to reign, is included in 
the capital of his kingdom, the New Jerusalem, now above, 
but which is to be located on this earth, where he is to reign 
forever and ever. Rev. 21:1-5; Luke 1:32, 33. 

He that Openeth, and no Man Shuttetli, etc. — To under- 
stand this language, it is necessary to look at Christ's position 
and work as connected with his ministry in the sanctuary, or 
true tabernacle above. Heb. 8:2. A figure, or pattern, of 
this heavenly sanctuary once existed here upon earth in the 
sanctuary built by Moses. Ex. 25:8, 9; Acts 7:44; Heb. 
9 : 1, 21, 23, 24. The earthly building had two apartments, 
— the holy place and the most holy place. Ex. 26:33, 34. 
In the first apartment were the candlestick, the table of show- 
bread, and the altar of incense. In the second were the ark, 
which contained the tables of the covenant, or ten command- 
ments, and the cherubim. Heb. 9:1-5. In like manner 
the sanctuary in which Christ ministers in heaven has two 
apartments. Heb. 9:24. (See also verses 8 and 12 and 
chapter 10:19, in each of which texts the words rendered 
holiest and holy place are plural in the original, and should be 
rendered holy places.) And as all things were made after 
their pattern, the heavenly sanctuary has also furniture sim- 
ilar to that of the worldly. For the antitype of the golden 
candlestick and altar of incense, in the first apartment, see 
Rev. 4:5; 8:3; and for the antitype of the ark of the cove- 
nant, with its ten commandments, see Rev. 11:19. In the 
worldly sanctuary the priests ministered. Ex. 28 : 41, 43 ; 



CHAPTER 3, VERSES 7 - 13 



447 



Heb. 9:6, 7; 13:11; etc. The ministry of these priests 
was a shadow of the ministry of Christ in the sanctuary in 
heaven. Heb. 8 : 4, 5. A complete round of service was per- 
formed in the earthly tabernacle once every year. Heb. 9 : 
7. But in the tabernacle above the service is performed once 
for all. Heb. 7:27; 9 : 12. At the close of the yearly typ- 
ical service, the high priest entered the second apartment, the 
most holy place of the sanctuary, to make an atonement; and 
this work is called the cleansing of the sanctuary. Lev. 16: 
20, 30, 33 ; Eze. 45 : 18. When the ministry in the most holy 
place commenced, that in the holy place ceased ; and no service 
was performed there so long as the priest was engaged in the 
most holy place. Lev. 16 : 17. A similar opening and shut- 
ting, or change of ministration, must be accomplished by Christ 
when the time comes for the cleansing of the heavenly sanc- 
tuary. .And the time did come for this service to commence 
at the close of the 2300 days, in 1844. To this event the 
opening and shutting mentioned in the text under considera- 
tion can appropriately apply, the opening .being the opening 
of his ministration in the most holy place, and the shutting, its 
cessation in the first apartment, or holy place. (See exposi- 
tion of the subject of the sanctuary and its cleansing, under 
Dan. 8: 14.). 

Verse 9 probably applies to those who do not keep pace 
with the advancing light of truth, and who oppose those that 
do. Such shall yet be made to feel and confess that God loves 
those who, not rejecting the past fulfilments of his word, nor 
stereotyping themselves in a creed, continue to advance in the 
knowledge of his truth. 

The Word of My Patience. — Says John, in Rev. 14 : 12, 
" Here is the patience of the saints ; here are they that keep 
the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Those 
who noAV live in patient, faithful obedience to the command- 
ments of God and the faith of Jesus, will be kept in the hour 
of temptation and peril just before "us. (See chapter 13: 
13-17.) 

Behold, I Come Quickly. — The second coming of Christ is 
here again brought to view, and with more startling emphasis 



448 



THE REVELATION 



than in any of the preceding messages. The nearness of that 
event is here urged upon the attention of believers. The mes- 
sage applies to a period when that great event is impending; 
and in this we have most indubitable evidence of the prophetic 
nature of these messages. What is said of the first three 
churches contains no allusion to the second coining of Christ, 
from the fact that they do not cover a period during which 
that event could be Scripturally expected. But we come down 
to the Thyatiran church, beyond which only three compar- 
atively brief stages of the church appear before the end, and, 
as if then the time had come when this great hope was 
just beginning to dawn upon the church, the mind is carried 
forward to it by a single allusion: "Hold fast till I come." 
We come down to the next state of the church, the Sardis, the 
church which occupies a position still nearer that event, and 
the great proclamation is brought to view which was to herald 
it, and the duty of watching enjoined upon the church : "If 
thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief." We 
reach the Philadelphian church, still further down in the 
stream of time, and the nearness of the same great event then 
leads Him who " is holy and true " to utter the stirring decla- 
ration, " Behold, I come quickly." How evident it is from 
all this that these churches occupy positions successively 
nearer the great day of the Lord, as in each succeeding one, 
and in a continually increasing ratio, this great event is made 
more and more prominent, and is more definitely and impress- 
ively urged upon the attention of the church. Here they see 
indeed the day approaching. Heb. 10:25. 

Faithfulness Enjoined. — " Hold that fast which thou hast, 
that no man take thy crown." Not that by our faithfulness 
we are depriving any one else of a crown; but the verb ren- 
dered to take has a number of definitions, one of which is 
" to take away, snatch from, deprive of." Hold fast that thou 
hast, that no man deprive thee of the crown of life. Let no 
one, and no thing, induce you to yield up the truth, or pervert 
you from the right ways of the Lord ; for by so doing they will 
cause you to lose the reward. 



CHAPTER 8, VERSES 7 - 22 



449 



A Pillar in the Temple. — The overcomer in this address 
has the promise of being made a pillar in the temple of God, 
and going no more out. The temple here must denote the 
church; and the promise of being made a pillar therein is the 
strongest promise that could be given of a place of honor, per- 
manence, and safety in the church, under the figure of a heav- 
enly building. And when the time comes that this part of 
the promise is fulfilled, probation with the overcomer is past; 
he is fully established in the truth, and sealed. " He shall 
go no more out ; " that is, there is no more danger of his 
falling away; he is the Lord's forever; his salvation is sure. 

But they are to have more than this. From the moment 
they overcome, and are sealed for heaven, they are labeled, if 
we may so express it, as belonging to God and Christ, and 
addressed to their destination, the Xew Jerusalem. They are 
to have written upon them the name of God, whose property 
they are, the name of the ~New Jerusalem, to which place they 
are going, not old Jerusalem, where some are vainly looking; 
and they have upon them the new name of Christ, by whose 
authority they are to receive everlasting life, and enter into 
the kingdom. Thus sealed and labeled, the saints of God are 
safe. ^o enemy will be able to prevent their reaching their 
destination, their glorious haven of rest, Jerusalem above. 

Verse 14. And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans 
write: These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, 
the beginning of the creation of God ; 15. I know thy works, that thou 
are neither cold nor hot : I would thou wert cold or hot. 16. So then 
because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue 
thee out of my mouth. 17. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and in- 
creased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that 
thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: 
18. I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou may- 
est be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that 
the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes 
with eye-salve, that thou mayest see. 19. As many as I love, I re- 
buke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. 20. Behold, I 
stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open 
the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with 
me. 21. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my 
throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father 
in his throne. 22. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit 
saith unto the churches. 



450 



THE REVELATION 



Laodicea signifies the judging of the people, or, according 
to Cruden, a just people. The message to this clmrch brings 
to view the closing scenes of probation. It reveals a period of 
judgment. It is the last stage of the church. It consequently 
applies to believers under the third message, the last message 
of mercy before the coming of Christ (see chapter 14: 9 - 14), 
while the great day of atonement is transpiring, and the inves- 
tigative Judgment is going forward upon the house of God, — 
a period during which the just and holy law of God is taken 
by the waiting church as their rule of life. 

These Things Saith the Amen. — ■ This is, then, the final 
message to the churches ere the close of probation. And 
though the description of their condition which he gives to the 
indifferent Laodiceans is fearful and startling, nevertheless it 
cannot be denied ; for the Witness is " faithful and true." 
Moreover, he is " the beginning of the creation of God." 
Some understand by this language that Christ was the first cre- 
ated being, dating his existence anterior to that of any other 
created being or thing, next to the self-existent and eternal 
God. But the language does not necessarily imply that he 
was created ; for the words, " the beginning of the creation/' 
may simply signify that the work of creation, strictly speaking, 
was begun by him. " Without him was not anything made." 
Others, however, and more properly we think, take the word 
apxrj to mean the " agent " or " efficient cause," which is one 
of the definitions of the word, understanding that Christ is 
the agent through whom God has created all things, but that 
he himself came into existence in a different manner, as he is 
called " the only begotten " of the Father. It would seem 
utterly inappropriate to apply this expression to any being cre- 
ated in the ordinary sense of that term. For " beginning," 
read " beginner." 

The charge he brings against the Laodiceans is that they 
are lukewarm, neither cold nor hot. They lack that religious 
fervency, zeal, and devotion which their position in the 
world's closing history, with the light of prophecy beaming 
upon their pathway, demands that they should manifest; and 
this lukewarmness is shown by a lack of good works ; for it 



CHAPTER 3, VERSES U - 22 



451 



is from a knowledge of their works that the faithful and trne 
Witness brings this fearful charge against them. 

/ Would Thou Wert Cold or Hot. — Three states are 
brought to view in this message, — the cold, the lukewarm, 
and the hot. It is important to determine what condition 
they each denote, in order to guard against wrong conclusions. 
Three conditions of spiritual life which pertain to the church, 
not to the world, are to be considered. What the term hot 
means it is not difficult to conceive. The mind at once calls 
up a state of intense fervency and zeal, when all the affections, 
raised to the highest pitch, are drawn out for God and his 
cause, and manifest themselves in corresponding works. To 
be lukewarm is to lack this zeal, to be in a state in which 
heart and earnestness are wanting; in which there is no self- 
denial that costs anything, no cross-bearing that is felt, no de- 
termined witnessing for Christ, and no valiant aggression that 
keeps sinews strained and armor bright; and, worst of all, it 
implies entire satisfaction with that condition. But to be cold 
— what is that ? Does it denote a state of corruption, wicked- 
ness, and sin, such as characterizes the world of unbelievers ? 
We cannot so regard it, for the following reasons : — 

1. It would seem harsh and repulsive to represent Christ 
as wishing, under any circumstances, that persons should be 
in such a condition; but he says, "I would thou wert cold 
or hot." 

2. No state can be more offensive to Christ than that of the 
sinner in open rebellion, and his heart filled with every evil. 
It would therefore be incorrect to represent him as preferring 
that state to any position which his people can occupy while 
they are still retained as his. 

3. The threat of rejection in verse 16 is because they are 
neither cold nor hot. As much as to say that if they were 
either cold or hot, they would not be rejected. But if by cold 
is meant a state of open worldly wickedness, they would be 
rejected therefor very speedily. Hence such cannot be its 
meaning. 

We are consequently forced to the conclusion that by this 
language our Lord has no reference whatever to those outside 



452 



THE REVELATION 



of his church, but that he refers to three degrees of spiritual 
affections, two of which are more acceptable to him than the 
third. Heat and cold are preferable to lukewarmness. But 
what kind of spiritual state is denoted by the term coldf We 
may remark first that it is a state of feeling. In this respect 
it is superior to lukewarmness, which is a state of compara- 
tive insensibility, indifference, and supreme self-satisfaction. 
To be hot is also to be in a state of feeling. And as hot 
denotes joyous fervency, and a lively exercise of all the affec- 
tions, with a heart buoyant with the sensible presence and 
love of God, so by cold would seem to be denoted a spiritual 
condition characterized by a destitution of these traits, yet one 
in which the individual feels such destitution, and longs to 
recover his lost treasures. This state is well expressed by the 
language of Job, "O that I knew where I might find him ! " 
Job 23 : 3. In this state there is not indifference, nor is there 
content; but there is a sense of coldness, unfitness, and dis- 
comfort, and a groping and seeking after something better. 
There is hope of a person in this condition. What a man 
feels that he lacks and wants, he will earnestly strive to obtain. 
The most discouraging feature of the lukewarm is that they 
are conscious of no lack, and feel that they have need of noth- 
ing. Hence it is easy to see why our Lord should prefer to 
behold his church in a state of comfortless coldness, rather 
that in a state of comfortable, easy, indifferent lukewarmness. 
Cold, a person will not long remain. His efforts will soon 
lead him to the fervid state. But lukewarm, there is danger 
of his remaining till the faithful and true Witness is obliged 
to reject him as a nauseous and loathsome thing. 

I Will Spue Thee out of My Mouth. — Here the figure is 
still further carried out, and the rejection of the lukewarm ex- 
pressed by the nauseating effects of tepid water. And this 
denotes a final rejection, an utter separation from his church. 

Rich, and Increased with Goods. — Such the Laodiceans 
think is their condition. They are not hypocrites, because 
they " knoiv not " that they are poor, miserable, blind, and 
naked. 



CHAPTER S, VERSES U-22 



453 



The Counsel Given Them. — Buy of me, says the true Wit- 
ness, gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich, and white 
raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and anoint thine eyes 
with eye-salve, that thou mayest see. This shows at once to 
the deceived Laodiceans the objects they lack, and the extent 
of their destitution. It shows, too, where they can obtain those 
things in which they are so fearfully poor; it brings before 
them the necessity of speedily obtaining them. The case is so 
urgent that our great Advocate in the court above sends us 
special counsel on the point; and the fact that he who has 
condescended to point out our lack, and counsel us to buy, is 
the one who has these things to bestow, and invites us to come 
to him for them, is the best possible guarantee that our appli- 
cation will be respected, and our requests granted. 

But by what means can we buy these things \ — Just as we 
buy all other gospel graces. " Ho, every one that thirsteth, 
come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, 
buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money 
and without price." Isa. 55:1. We thus buy by the ask- 
ing; buy by throwing away the worthless baubles of earth, and 
receiving priceless treasures in their stead; buy by simply 
coming and receiving; buy, giving nothing in return. And 
what do we buy on these gracious terms ? — Bread that per- 
ishes not, spotless raiment that soils not, riches that corrupt 
not, and an inheritance that f adeth not. Strange traffic, this ! 
yet thus the Lord condescends to deal with his people. He 
might compel us to come in the manner and with the mien of 
beggars; but instead of this he gives us the treasures of his 
grace, and in return receives our worthlessness, that we may 
take the blessings he has to bestow, not as pittances dealt out 
to mendicants, but as the legitimate possessions of honorable 
purchase. 

The things to be obtained demand especial notice. They 
are enumerated as follows :— 

1. Gold Tried in the Fire. — Gold, literally considered, is 
the comprehensive name for all worldly wealth and riches. 
Figuratively, it must denote that which constitutes spiritual 
riches. What grace, then, is represented by the gold, or, rather, 



454 



THE REVELATION 



what graces ? for doubtless no one single grace can be said 
to answer to the full import of that term. The Lord said to 
the church of Smyrna that he knew their poverty, but they 
were rich; and the testimony shows that their riches consisted 
of that which was finally to put them in possession of a crown 
of life. Says James, " Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath 
not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs 
of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love 
him ? " " Faith," says Paul, " is the substance of things 
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." To be " rich 
toward God," — rich in the spiritual sense, — is to have a clear 
title to the promises, — to be an heir of that inheritance which 
is incorruptible, undented, and that fadeth not away, reserved 
in heaven for us. " If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's 
seed, and heirs according to the promise." Gal. 3 : 29. And 
how do we obtain this heirship ? — In the same w-ay that Abra- 
ham obtained the promise ; that is, through faith. Rom. 4 : 
13, 14. No wonder, then, that Paul should devote an entire 
chapter in Hebrews (chapter 11) to this important subject, set- 
ting forth the mighty achievements that have been accom- 
plished, and the precious promises that have been obtained, 
through faith ; and that he should, in the first verse of the next 
chapter, as the grand conclusion to his argument, exhort Chris- 
tians to lay aside every weight, and the sin (of unbelief) that 
so easily besets them. Nothing will sooner dry up the springs 
of spirituality, and sink us into utter poverty in reference to 
the things of the kingdom of God, than to let faith go out 
and unbelief come in. For faith must enter into every action 
that is pleasing in his sight ; and in coming to him, the first 
thing is to believe that he is ; and it is through faith, as the 
chief agent under the grace which is the gift of God, that we 
are to be saved. Heb. 11:6; Eph. 2 : 8. 

Prom this it would seem that faith is a principal element 
of spiritual wealth. But if, as already remarked, no one grace 
can answer to the full import of the term gold, so, doubtless, 
other things are included with faith. " Faith is the substance 
of things hoped for," says Paul. Hence hope is an insepa- 
rable accompaniment of faith. Heb. 11 : 1 ; Pom. 8 : 24, 25. 



CHAPTER 3, VERSES U - 22 



455 



And again Paul tells us that faith works by love, and speaks in 
another place of being "rich in good works." Gal. 5:6; 
1 Tim. 6:18. Hence love cannot be separated from faith. 
We then have before us the three objects associated together 
by Paul in 1 Corinthians 13, — faith, hope, and charity, or 
love; and the greatest of these is charity. Such is the gold 
tried by fire which we are counseled to buy. 

2. White Raiment. — On this point there would not seem 
to be much room for controversy. A few texts will furnish a 
key to the understanding of this expression. Says the prophet, 
Isa. 64: 6, "All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags." We 
are counseled to buy the opposite of filthy rags, which would 
be complete and spotless raiment. The same figure is used in 
Zech. 3:3, 4. And John, in the 19th chapter of the Revela- 
tion, verse 8, says plainly that " the fine linen is the right- 
eousness of saints." 

3. The Eye-salve. — ■ On this there is as little room for a 
diversity of opinion as upon the white raiment. The anoint- 
ing of the eyes is certainly not to be taken in a literal sense; 
and, reference being made to spiritual things, the eye-salve 
must denote that by which our spiritual discernment is quick- 
ened. There is but one agent revealed to us in the word of 
God by which this is accomplished, and that is the Holy Spirit. 
In Acts 10: 38 we read that " God anointed Jesus of Xazareth 
with the Holy Ghost." And the same writer through whom 
came this Revelation from Jesus Christ, wrote to the church in 
his first epistle (chapter 2:20) as follows: "But ye have an 
unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things." In 
verse 27 he enlarges upon this point thus : " But the anointing 
which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye meed not 
that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth 
you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it 
hath taught you, ye shall abide in him." By referring to his 
Gospel, it is found that the work which he here sets forth as 
accomplished by the anointing is exactly the same that he there 
attributes to the Holy Spirit. John 14: 26: "But the Com- 
forter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send 
in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things 

29 



456 



THE REVELATION 



to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto yon." (See 
also John 16: 13.) 

Thus in a formal and solemn manner are we counseled by 
the faithful and true Witness, under the figures of gold, white 
raiment, and eye-salve, to seek from him, speedily and ear- 
nestly, an increase of the hearenly graces of faith, hope, char- 
ity, that righteousness which he alone can furnish, and an unc- 
tion from the Holy Spirit. But how is it possible that a people 
lacking these things should think themselves rich and increased 
with goods ? A plausible inference may here be drawn, which 
is perhaps also a necessary one, as there is room for no other. 
It will be observed that no fault is found with the Laodiceans 
on account of the doctrines they hold. They are not accused 
of harboring any Jezebel in their midst, or of countenancing 
the doctrines of Balaam or the Nicolaitanes. So far as we can 
learn from the address to them, their belief is correct, and their 
theory sound. The inference therefore is that having a correct 
theory, therewith they are content. They are satisfied with a 
correct form of doctrine without its power. Having received 
light concerning the closing events of this dispensation, and 
having a correct theoretical knowledge of the truths that per- 
tain to the last generation of men, they are inclined to rest in 
this to the neglect of the spiritual part of religion. It is by 
their actions, doubtless, not by their words, that they say they 
are rich, and increased with goods. Having so much light and 
so much truth, what can they want besides ? And if, with a 
commendable tenacity, they defend the theory, and in the let- 
ter, so far as their outward life is concerned, conform to the 
increasing light upon the commandments of God and the faith 
of Jesus, is not their righteousness complete ? Rich, and 
increased with goods, and needing nothing! Here is their 
failure. Their whole being should cry out for the spirit, the 
zeal, the fervency, the life, the power, of a living Christianity, 
and their righteousness should consist in a swallowing up of 
self and all its works in the merits of their Eedeemer. 

The Token of Love. — This, strange as it may seem, is chas- 
tisement. "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten." If 
we are without chastisement, we are not sons. Hebrews 12. 



CHAPTER 2, VERSES U-22 



457 



"A general law," says Thompson, " of his gracious economy 
is here set forth. As all need chastisement in some measure, 
they in some measure receive it, and thus have proof of the 
Saviour's attachment. This is a hard lesson to learn, and be- 
lievers are dull scholars; yet here and throughout God's word 
and providence it stands, that trials are his benedictions, and 
that no child escapes the rod. The incorrigibly misshapen and 
coarse-grained blocks are rejected, while those chosen for the 
glorious structure are subjected to the chisel and the hammer. 
There is no cluster on the true vine but must pass through the 
winepress. ' For myself,' said an old divine under affliction, 
' for myself, I bless God I have observed and felt so much 
mercy in this angry dispensation of God that I am almost 
transported. I am, surely, highly pleased with thinking how 
infinitely sweet his mercies are, when his judgments are so 
gracious.' In view, then, of the origin, and design of the 
chastisements you receive, ' Be zealous and repent.' Lose no 
time; lose not a blow of the rod, but repent at once. Be fer- 
vent in spirit. Such is the first appliance of encouragement." 

Be Zealous and Repent. — Although, as we have seen, tha 
state represented by coldness is preferable to one of lukewarm- 
ness, yet that is not a state in which our Lord ever desires to 
find us. We are never exhorted to seek that state. There is 
a far better one which we are counseled to attain; and that 
is to be zealous, to be fervent, and to have our hearts all 
aglow ■ in the service of our Master. 

Christ Knocking at the Door. — Let us listen again to the 
author above quoted : " Here is the heart of hearts. isTotwith- 
standing their offensive attitude, their unlovely character, such 
is his love to their souls that he humbles himself to solicit the 
privilege of making them blessed. ' Behold, I stand at the 
door, and knock.' Why does he ? Not because he is without 
home elsewhere. Among the mansions in his Father's house 
there is not one entrance closed to him. He is the life of 
every heart, the light in every eye, the song on every tongue, 
in glory. But he goes round from door to door in Laodicea. 
He stands at each, and knocks, because he came to seek and 
to save that which is lost, because he cannot give up the pur- 



458 



THE REVELATION 



pose of communicating eternal life to as many as the Father 
has given him, and because he cannot become known to the in- 
mate unless the door be opened and a welcome given him. 
Have you bought a piece of ground ? have you bought five 
yoke of oxen ? is your hat in your hand, and do you pray to 
be excused ? He knocks and knocks. But you cannot receive 
company at present; you are worn out with labor; you have 
wheeled round the sofa; you are making yourself comfortable, 
and send word that you are engaged. He knocks and knocks. 
. . . It is the hour for church prayer-meeting or for monthly 
concert; there is opportunity to pay a Christian visit to an 
individual or a family; but you move not. . . . Oh, nauseous 
lukewarmness ! Oh, fatal worldliness ! The Lord of glory 
comes all the way from his celestial palace — comes in poverty, 
in sweat, in blood — comes to the door of a professed friend, 
who owes all to him, and cannot get in ! — comes to rescue a 
man whose house is on fire, and he will not admit him ! Oh, 
the height, the depth, of Jesus Christ's forbearance ! Even 
the heathen Publius received Paul, and lodged him three days 
courteously. Shall nominal Christians tell the Lord of apostles 
that they have no room for him ? " 

// Any Man Hear My V oice. — The Lord entreats, then, 
as well as knocks. And the word if implies that some will 
not hear. Though he stands and knocks and entreats till his 
locks are wet with the dews of night, yet some will close their 
ears to his tender entreaties. But it is not enough simply to 
hear. We must hear, and open the door. And many who at 
first hear the voice, and for a time feel inclined to heed, will 
doubtless, alas ! fail in the end to do that which is necessary 
to secure to themselves the communion of the heavenly Guest. 
Reader, are your ears open to the entreaties which the Saviour 
directs to you? Is the sound of his voice a welcome sound? 
Will you heed it? Will you open the door and let him in? 
Or is the door of your heart held fast by heaps of this world's 
rubbish, which you are unwilling to remove ? Remember that 
the Lord of life never forces an entrance. He condescends to 
come and knock, and seek admittance ; but he takes up his 



CHAPTER 3, VERSES U - 22 



459 



abode in those hearts only where he is then a welcome and 
invited guest. 

And then the promise ! "I will come in to him, and will 
sup with him, and he with me." How forcible and touching 
the figure ! Friend with friend, partaking of the cheerful and 
social meal ! Mind with mind, holding free and intimate con- 
verse ! And what a festal scene must that be where the King 
of glory is a guest ! ~No common degree of union, no ordinary 
blessing, no usual privilege, is denoted by this language. Who, 
under such tender entreaty and so gracious a promise, can re- 
main indifferent ? Nor are we required to furnish the table 
for this exalted Guest. This he does himself, not with the 
gross nutriment of earth, but with viands from his own heav- 
enly storehouse. Here he sets before us foretastes of the glory 
soon to be revealed. Here he gives us earnests of our future 
inheritance, which is incorruptible, undefiled, and fadeth not 
away. Yerily, when we shall comply with the conditions, and 
receive this promise, we shall experience the rising of the day 
star in our hearts, and behold the dawn of a glorious morning 
for the church of God. 

The Final Promise. — The promise of supping with his dis- 
ciples is made by the Lord before the final promise to the over- 
comer is given. This shows that the blessings included in that 
promise are to be enjoyed in this probationary state. And 
now, superadded to all these, is the promise to the overcomer: 
" To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my 
throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my 
Father in his throne." Here the promises of the Lord culmi- 
nate. From being at first rebellious, and then fallen, de- 
graded, and polluted, man is brought by the work of the 
Redeemer back into reconciliation with God, cleansed from 
his pollutions, redeemed from the fall, made immortal, and 
finally raised to a seat upon the very throne of his Saviour. 
Honor and exaltation could go no farther. Human minds 
cannot conceive that state, human language cannot describe it. 
We can only labor on till, if overcomer s at last, we shall 
66 know what it is to be there." 

In this verse there is not only a glorious promise, but there 



400 



THE REVELATION 



is also an important doctrine. We learn by this that Christ 
reigns consecutively ivpon two thrones. One is the throne of 
his Father, the other is his own throne. He declares in this 
verse that he has overcome, and is now set down with his 
Father in his throne. He is now associated with the Father 
in the throne of universal dominion, placed at his right hand, 
far above all principality, power, might, and dominion. Eph. 
1:20 -22, etc. While in this position, he is a priest-king. 
He is a priest, " a minister of the sanctuary ; " but at the 
same time he is " on the right hand of the throne of the Maj- 
esty in the heavens." Heb. 8:1, 2. This position and work 
of our Lord, was thus predicted by the prophet Zechariah: 
"And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts 
[God], saying, Behold the man whose name is the Branch 
[Christ] ; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall 
build the temple of the Lord. . . . And he [Christ] shall sit 
and rule upon his [God's] throne; and he [Christ] shall be a 
priest upon his [God's] throne; and the counsel of peace [in 
the sacrifice and priestly work of Christ in behalf of repent* 
ing man] shall be between them both." Zech. 6 : 12, 13. 
But the time is coming when he is to change his position, 
and, leaving the throne of his Father, take his own throne ; 
and this must be w T hen the time comes for the reward of the 
overcomers; for when they enter upon their reward, they are 
to sit with Christ on his throne, as he has overcome, and is 
now seated with the Father upon his throne. This change 
in the position of Christ is set forth by Paul ir. 1 Cor. 15 : 
24- 28, as follows:— 

" Then Cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up 
the kingdom to God, even the Father ; when he shall have put 
down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign 
till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy 
that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all things 
under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under 
him, it is manifest that he is excepted which did put all things 
under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, 
then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all 
things under him, that God may be all in all." 



CHAPTER S, VERSES U - 22 



461 



The truths taught in this portion of Scripture may perhaps 
be most briefly expressed by a slight paraphrase, and by giving, 
in every instance, instead of the pronouns, the nouns to which 
they respectively refer. Thus: — 

" Then cometh the end (of the present dispensation), when 
Christ shall have delivered up the kingdom (which he now 
holds conjointly with the Father) to God, even the Father; 
when God shall have put down all rule and all authority and 
power (that is opposed to the work of the Son). For Christ 
must reign (on the throne of his Father) till the Father hath 
put all enemies under Christ's feet. [See. Ps. 110: 1.] The 
last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For God (then) 
hath put all things under Christ's feet. But when God saith, 
All things are put under Christ (and he commences his reign 
upon his own throne), it is manifest that God is excepted, 
who did put all things under Christ. And when all things 
shall be subdued unto Christ, then shall Christ also himself 
be subject unto God that put all things under him, that God 
may be all in all." 

That this is a correct version of this scripture may be easily 
verified. The only question that can be raised is concerning 
the persons to whom the pronouns refer ; and any attempt to 
make the pronouns refer to Christ which in the foregoing para- 
phrase are referred to God, will be found, when traced through 
the quotation, to make poor sense of Paul's language. 

From this it will be seen that the kingdom which Christ 
delivers up to the Father is that which he holds at the present 
time upon his Father's throne, where he tells us he is now 
seated. He delivers up this kingdom at the end of this dis- 
pensation, when the time comes for him to take his own throne. 
After this he reigns on the throne of his father David, and is 
subject only to God, who still retains his position upon the 
throne of universal dominion. In this reign of Christ the 
saints participate. " To him that overcometh will I grant to 
sit with me in my throne." "And they lived," says John, 
dating from the first resurrection (chapter 20:4), "and 
reigned with Christ a thousand years." This we understand 
to be a special reign, or for a special purpose, as will be noticed 



462 



THE REVELATION 



in that chapter; for the actual reign of the saints is to be 
" forever and ever." Dan. 7 : 18, 27. How can any earthly 
object divert our gaze from this durable and heavenly pros- 
pect ? 

Thus close the messages to the seven churches. How 
pointed and searching their testimony! What lessons do they 
contain for all Christians in all ages ! It is as true with the 
last church as with the first, that all their works are known 
to- Him who walks in the midst of the seven golden candle- 
sticks. From his scrutinizing gaze nothing can be hidden. 
And while his threatenings to the hypocrites and evil work- 
ers, as in justice they may be, are awful, how ample, how 
comforting, how gracious, how glorious, his promises to those 
who love and follow him with singleness of heart ! 

Gracious words of counsel, messages of love, 
Sent to all his children from the Lord on high : 

Precious are these warnings from the throne above, 
As the world's last crisis swiftly draweth nigh. 

Weak and all unworthy we, his children, are — 
Pure and perfect must be ere we see his face ; 

Now for us the Saviour shows his tender care, 
Offering for our purchase every heavenly grace. 

Let each boundless promise every bdfeom thrill, 
Bear us through sad ills this world has ever known, 

Till we reach the mansions on God's holy hill, 
Till we sit with Jesus on his glorious throne. 



CHAPTEE IV. 



Verse 1. After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in 
heaven : and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet 
talking. with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will show thee 
things which must be hereafter. 

IN the first three chapters, John presents the vision he had 
of the Son of man, comprising a description of his majestic 
person, and a record of the words which, with a voice as 
the sound of many waters, he was heard to utter. A new 
scene and a new vision now open before us; and the expres- 
sion " after this " does not denote that what is recorded in 
chapter 4 and onward was to take place after the fulfilment 
of everything recorded in the three preceding chapters, but 
only that after he had seen and heard what is there recorded, 
he had the new view which he now introduces. 

A Door Was Opened in Heaven. — Let it be noticed that 
John says, "A door was opened in heaven," not into heaven. 
It was not an opening of heaven itself before the mind of 
John, as in the case of Stephen (Acts 7 : 56) ; but some place, 
or apartment, in heaven was opened before him, and he was 
permitted to behold what was transpiring within. That this 
apartment which John saw open was the heavenly sanctuary, 
will plainly appear from other portions of the book. 

(463) 



464 



THE REVELATION 



Things Which Must Be Hereafter. — Compare with this 
chapter 1 : 1. The great object of the Revelation seems to be 
the presentation of future events, for the purpose of informing, 
edifying, and comforting the church. 

Verse 2. And immediately I was in the Spirit: and, behold, a 
throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. 3. And he that 
sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there 
was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. 
4. And round about the throne were four and twenty seats ; and upon 
the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white rai- 
ment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. 5. And out of 
the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and 
there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are 
the seven Spirits of God. 

In the Spirit. — Once before in this book we have had this 
expression; namely, in chapter 1: 10, " I was in the Spirit on 
the Lord's day," where it was taken to express the fact that 
John had a vision upon the Sabbath, or Lord's day. If it 
there expressed the state of being in vision, it would denote 
the same thing here; and consequently the first vision ended 
with chapter 3, and a new one is here introduced. ~Noy is it 
any objection to this view that John, previous to this, as is 
learned from the first verse of this chapter, was in such a 
spiritual state as to be able to look up and see a door opened 
in heaven, and to hear a voice, like the mighty sound of a 
trumpet, calling him up to a nearer prospect of heavenly 
things. It is evident that there may be such states of ecstasy 
independent of vision, just as Stephen, full of the Holy Ghost, 
could look up and see the heavens opened, and the Son of man 
on the right hand of God. To be in the Spirit denotes a still 
higher state of spiritual elevation. On what day this vision 
was given, we are not informed. 

Being again fully wrapped in heavenly vision, the first 
object which he beholds is a throne set in .heaven, and the 
Divine Being seated thereon. The description of the appear- 
ance of this personage, clothed in the mingled colors of the 
jasper, frequently a purple, and the blood-red sardine stone, is 
such as at once to suggest to the mind a monarch vested with 
his royal robes. And round about the throne there was a rain- 



CHAPTER k, VERSES 2 - 5 



465 



bow, both adding to the grandeur of the scene, and reminding 
us that though he who sits upon the throne is an almighty and 
absolute ruler, he is nevertheless the covenant-keeping God. 

The Four and Twenty Elders. — The question once pro- 
posed to John concerning a certain company, has frequently 
arisen concerning these four and twenty elders: " Who are 
these ? and whence came they ? " It will be observed that 
they are clothed in white raiment, and have on their heads 
crowns of gold, which are tokens both of a conflict completed 
and a victory gained. From this we conclude that they were 
once participants in the Christian warfare, once trod, in com- 
mon with all saints, this earthly pilgrimage, but have over- 
come ; and for some good purpose, in advance of the great 
multitude of the redeemed, are wearing their victor crowns in 
the heavenly world. Indeed, they plainly tell us as much as 
this in the song of praise which they, in connection with the 
four living beings, ascribe to the Lamb, in the 9th verse of the 
following chapter: "And they sung a new song, saying, Thou 
art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for 
thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood 
out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation." 
This song is sung before any of the events in the prophecy of 
the seven seals transpire ; for it is sung to set forth the worthi- 
ness of the Lamb to take the book and to open the seals, on 
the ground of what he had already accomplished, which was 
their redemption. It is not, therefore, thrown in here by 
anticipation, having its application in the future ; but it ex- 
presses an absolute and finished fact in the history of those 
who sang it. These, then, were a class of redeemed persons, 
— ■ redeemed from this earth, redeemed as all others must be 
redeemed, by the precious blood of Christ. 

Do we in any other place read of such a class of redeemed 
ones ? — We think Paul refers to the same company when he 
writes to the Ephesians thus : " Wherefore he saith, When he 
[Christ] ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and 
gave gifts unto men." The marginal reading is, he led a 
" multitude of captives." Eph. 4 : 8. Going back to the 
events that occurred in connection with the crucifixion and 



466 



THE REVELATION 



resurrection of Christ, we read : "And the graves were opened ; 
and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out 
of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy 
city, and appeared unto many." Matt. 27 : 52, 53. Thus the 
answer to our question comes back, gathered unmistakably 
from the sacred page. These are some of those who came out 
of their graves at the resurrection of Christ, and who were 
numbered with the illustrious multitude which he led up 
from the captivity of Death's dark domain when he ascended 
in triumph on high. Matthew records their resurrection, 
Paul their ascension, and John beholds them in heaven, per- 
forming the sacred duties which they were raised up to ac- 
complish. 

In this view we are not alone. Wesley speaks as follows 
concerning the four and twenty elders : " i Clothed in white 
raiment.' This, and their golden crowns, show that they had 
already finished their course, and taken their places among the 
citizens of heaven. They are never termed souls, and hence it 
is probable that they had glorified bodies already. Compare 
Matt. 27:52." 

The particular attention of the reader is asked to the fact 
that the four and twenty elders are said to be seated on thrones. 
Our translation, it is true, reads " seats ; " but the Greek is 
OpovoL, " thrones ; " and so the Revised Version reads : "And 
round about the throne were four and twenty thrones, and 
upon the thrones I saw four and twenty elders sitting." This 
passage, consequently, throws light on the expression found in 
Dan. 7:9, "I beheld till the thrones were cast down." These 
are the same thrones ; and, as has been shown in comments upon 
that passage, the meaning is not that the thrones were over- 
turned, or cast down, in the ordinary sense of that expression, 
but placed, or established; and the figure is taken from the 
Eastern custom of casting down, or placing, mats or divans 
for distinguished guests to sit upon. These four and twenty 
elders (see on chapter 5) are supposed to be assistants of Christ 
in his mediatorial work in the sanctuary on high; and when 
the judgment scene described in Dan. 7 : 9 commenced in the 



CHAPTER k, VERSES 2 - 11 



467 



most holy place, their seats, or thrones, would be set, or placed, 
there, according to the testimony of that passage. 

The Seven Lamps of Fire. — In these lamps of fire we have 
an appropriate antitype of the golden candlestick of the typical 
sanctnary, with its seven ever-burning lamps. This candle- 
stick was placed, by divine direction, in the first apartment of 
the earthly sanctuary. Ex. 25:31, 32, 37; 26:35; 27: 
20 ; etc. And now when John tells us that a door was opened 
in heaven, and in the apartment thus disclosed to view he sees 
the antitype of the candlestick of the earthly sanctuary, it is 
good proof that he is looking into the first apartment of the 
sanctuary above. 

Verse 6. And before the throne there was a sea of glass like 
unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the 
throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. 7. And the 
first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and 
the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like 
a flying eagle. 8. And the four beasts had each of them six wings 
about him ; and they were full of eyes within : and they rest not day 
and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, 
and is, and is to come. 9. And when those beasts give glory and 
honor and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth forever 
and ever, 10. The four and twenty elders fall down before him that 
sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth forever and ever, and 
cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11. Thou art worthy, O 
Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created 
all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. 

The Sea of Glass. — Not composed of glass, but a broad 
expanse resembling glass ; that is, says Greenfield, transparent, 
brilliant. This idea is further carried out by its being likened 
to crystal, which is defined to mean " anything concrete and 
pellucid, like ice or glass." The position of this sea is such 
as to show that it bears no analogy to the laver of the ancient 
typical service. 

It may extend under, and be the foundation of, the throne, 
and even further, of the city itself. It is again brought to 
view in chapter 15:2, 'as the place where the overcomers, in 
the ecstatic joy of final victory, will soon stand. 

The Four Beasts.— It is a very unhappy translation which 
has given us the word beasts in this verse. The Greek word 



468 



THE REVELATION 



£u)ov denotes properly a living creature. Bloomneld says, 
u ' Four living creatures' (not beasts). So Heinr. renders it. 
. . . The propriety of this correction is now, I believe, gen- 
erally agreed upon by commentators. Tlie word is very differ- 
ent from QrjpCov, used to designate the prophetic beasts in the 
13th and following chapters. ( Scholeneld. ) It may be added 
that Bulkeley adduces several examples of £oW to denote, not 
only creature, but even a human being, especially one from 
Origen, who uses it of our Lord Jesus." 

Similar imagery is used in the first chapter of Ezekiel. 
The qualities which would seem to be signified by the emblems 
are strength, perseverance, reason, and swiftness, — strength of 
affection, perseverance in carrying out the requirements of 
duty, reason in comprehending the divine will, and swiftness 
in obeying. These living beings are even more intimately 
connected with the throne than are the four and twenty elders, 
being represented as in the midst of it, and round about it. 
Like the elders, these, in their song to the Lamb, ascribe to 
him praise for having redeemed them from the earth. They 
therefore belong to the same company, and represent a part 
of the great multitude, who, as already described (see remarks 
on verse 4), have been led up on high from the captivity of 
death. Concerning the object of their redemption, see re- 
marks on chapter 5 : 8. 

They Rest Not. — " Oh ! happy unrest ! " beautifully ex- 
claims John Wesley ; and the theme of their constant worship 
is, " Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, 
and is to come.'' ~No sublimer strain ever issued from created 
lips. And they repeat it " day and night," or continually, 
these terms only denoting the manner in which time is reck- 
oned here ; for there can be no night where the throne of 
God is. 

We mortals are apt to tire of the repetition of the simple 
testimony we bear here to the goodness and mercy of God; 
and we are sometimes tempted to say nothing, because we can- 
not continually say something new. But may we not learn a 
profitable lesson from the course of these holy beings above, 
who never grow weary of the ceaseless repetition of these 



CHAPTER k, VERSES 6 - 11 



469 



words, " Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty; " and to whom 
these words never grow old, because their hearts ever glow with 
a sense of his holiness, goodness, and love ? • Praise does not 
become to them monotonous; for with every utterance they 
gain a new view of the attributes of the Almighty; they reach 
a greater height of comprehension in their vision of his perfec- 
tions; the horizon expands before them; their hearts enlarge; 
and the new emotions of adoration, from their new standpoint, 
draw from them a fresh utterance of their holy salutation, new 
even to themselves, " Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty ! " 

So, even with us here, though remarks are often repeated 
in reference to- the goodness, the mercy, and the love of God, 
the value of his truth, and the attractions of the world to come, 
these should not grow stale upon the ear ; for we should all 
our lives be rising to new conceptions of the blessings em- 
braced in these glorious themes. . 

Concerning the expression, " which was, and is, and is to 
come," see remarks on chapter 1 : 4. 

" Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and 
power." How worthy, we never shall be able to realize till, 
like the holy beings who utter this language, changed to immor- 
tality, we are presented faultless before the presence of his 
glory. Jude 24. 

Thou Hast Created All Tilings. — The works of creation 
furnish the foundation for the honor, glory, and power ascribed 
to God. "And for thy pleasure," or through thy will, 8ia to 
OeXrjfjid o-ov, they are, and were created. God willed, and all 
things came into existence ; and by the same power they are 
preserved and sustained. 



CHAPTEE V. 



Verse 1. And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the 
throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven 
seals. 

ANEW chapter here opens, but not a new scene. The 
. same view is still before the mind of the apostle. By 
the words " him that sat on the throne/' is evidently 
meant the Father, as the Son is subsequently introduced as " a 
Lamb as it had been slain." The book which John here saw, 
contained a revelation of scenes that were to transpire in the 
history of the church to the end of time. Its being held in 
the right hand of him that sat on the throne may signify that 
a knowledge of the future rests with God alone, except so far 
as he sees fit to reveal it to others. 

The Boole. — The books in use at the time the Revelation 
was given were not in the form of books as now made. They 
did not consist of a series of leaves bound together, but were 
composed of strips of parchment or other material, longer or 
shorter, one or more, and rolled up. On this point, Wesley 
remarks : — 

" The usual books of the ancients were not like ours, but 
were volumes, or long pieces of parchment, rolled upon a long 
stick, as we frequently roll silks. Such was this represented, 
which was sealed with seven seals. jSTot as if the apostle saw 
(470) 



CHAPTER 5, VERSES 1 - k 



471 



all the seals at once ; for there were seven volumes wrapped up 
one within another, each of which was sealed ; so that upon 
opening and unrolling the first, the second appeared to be 
sealed up till that was opened, and so on to the seventh." 

On the same point Scott remarks : " It appeared as a roll 
consisting of several parchments, according to the custom of 
those times ; and though it was supposed to be written within, 
yet nothing could be read till the seals were loosed. It was 
afterward found to contain seven parchments, or small volumes, 
each of which was separately sealed; but if all the seals had 
been on the outside, nothing could have been read till they had 
all been loosed; whereas the loosing of each seal was followed 
by some discovery of the contents of the roll. Yet the appear- 
ance on the outside seems to have indicated that it consisted 
of seven, or at least of several parts." 

Bloomfield says : " The long rolls of parchment used by 
the ancients, which we call books, were seldom written but on 
one side; namely, that which was in rolling turned inward." 
So, doubtless, this book was not written within and on the 
backside, as the punctuation of our common version makes 
it read. " Grotius, Lowman, Fuller, etc.," says the Cottage 
Bible, " remove the comma, thus : ' Written within, and on 
the back (or outside) sealed/ etc." How these seals were 
placed, 'is sufficiently explained in the notes from Wesley and 
Scott, given above. 

Verse 2. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, 
Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? 3. 
And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was 
able to open the book, neither to look thereon. 4. And I wept much, 
because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, 
neither to look thereon. 

The Challenge. — God, as it were, holds forth this book to 
the view of the universe, and a strong angel, one doubtless of 
great eminence and power, comes forth as a crier, and with a 
mighty voice challenges all creatures in the universe to try 
the strength of their wisdom in opening the counsels of God. 
Who can be found worthy to open the book, and to loose the 
seals thereof ? A pause ensues. In silence the universe owns 
30 



472 



THE REVELATION 



its inability and unworthiness to enter into the counsels of the 
Creator. "And no man in heaven/' ovSefe not merely no man, 
but no one, no being", in heaven. Is not here proof that the 
faculties of angels are limited, like those of man, in respect to 
penetrating the future and disclosing what is to come ? And 
when the apostle saw that no one came forward to open the 
book, he greatly feared that the counsels of God which it con- 
tained in reference to his people, would never be disclosed; 
and in the natural tenderness of his feelings, and his concern 
for the church, he wept much. " How far are they," says 
Wesley, " from the temper of St. J ohn, who inquire after any- 
thing rather than the contents of this book ! " 

Upon the phrase, " I wept much," Benson offers the fol- 
lowing beautiful remarks : " Being greatly affected with the 
thought that no being whatever was to be found able to under- 
stand, reveal, and accomplish the divine counsels, fearing they 
would still remain concealed from the church. This weeping 
of the apostle sprang from greatness of mind. The tenderness 
of heart which he always had, appeared more clearly now he 
was out of his own power. The Revelation was not written 
without tears, neither without tears will' it be understood." 

Verse 5. And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not : behold, 
the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Hoot of David, hath prevailed to 
open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. 6. And I beheld, 
and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the 
midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven 
horns and seven eyes, which, are the seven Spirits of God sent forth 
into all the earth. 7. And he came and took the book out of the 
right hand of him that sat upon the throne. 

~Not long is John permitted to weep. God is not willing 
that any knowledge which can benefit his people shall be with- 
held. Provision is made for the opening of the book. Hence 
one of the elders says to him, " Weep not ; behold, the Lion 
of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to 
open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof." Why 
one of the elders should impart this information to John in 
preference to some other being, does not appear, unless it is 
that having been redeemed, they would be especially interested 



CHAPTER 5, VERSES 5 - 7 



473 



in all that pertained to the welfare of the church on earth. 
Christ is here called the " Lion of the tribe of Judah." Why 
called a lion ? and why of the tribe of Jndah ? — As to the 
first, it is probably to denote his strength. As the lion is the 
king of beasts, the monarch of the forest, he thus becomes a 
fit emblem of kingly authority and power. " Of the tribe of 
Jndah." Doubtless he receives this appellation from the proph- 
ecy in Gen. 49 : 9, 10. 

The Boot of David. — ■ The source and sustainer of David 
as to his position and power. That David's position was spe- 
cially ordained of Christ, and that he was specially sustained 
by him, there can be no doubt. David was the type, Christ 
the antitype. David's throne and reign over Israel was a type 
of Christ's reign over his people. He shall reign upon the 
throne of his father David. Luke 1 : 32, 33. As Christ ap- 
peared in the line of David's descendants when he took upon 
himself our nature, he is also called the offspring of David, 
and a root out of the stem of Jesse. Isa. 11: 1, 10; Rev. 
22 : 16. His connection with the throne of David being thus 
set forth, and his right thus shown to rule over the people of 
God, there was a propriety in intrusting to him the opening of 
the seals. 

Hath Prevailed. — These words indicate that the right to 
open the book was acquired by a victory gained in some pre- 
vious conflict; and so we find it set forth in subsequent por- 
tions of this chapter. The very next scene introduces us to the 
great work of Christ as the Redeemer of the world, and the 
shedding of his blood for the remission of sin and the salvation 
of man. In this work he was subjected to the fiercest assaults 
of Satan. But he endured his temptations, bore the agonies of 
the cross, rose a victor over death and the grave, made the 
way of redemption sure — triumphed ! Hence the four living 
beings and the four and twenty elders sing, " Thou art worthy 
to take the book, and to open the seals thereof ; for thou wast 
slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood." 

John looks to see the Lion of the tribe of Judah, and be- 
holds a Lamb in the midst of the throne and of the four living- 
beings and the elders, as it had been slain. 



474 



THE REVELATION 



In the Midst of the Throne. — Doddridge translates thus : 
"And I beheld in the middle space between the throne and 
the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders there 
stood a Lamb," etc. In the center of the scene was the throne 
of the Tather, and standing in the open space which surrounded 
it was the Son, set forth under the symbol of a slain lamb. 
Around these there stood those saints who had been redeemed : 
first, those represented by the four living creatures, then the 
elders forming the second circle, and the angels (verse 11) 
forming a third circle. The worthiness of Christ, as he thus 
stands forth under the figure of a slain lamb, is the admira- 
tion of all the holy throng. 

As It Had Been Slain. — Woodhouse, as quoted in the 
Compherensive Commentary, says : " The Greek implies that 
the Lamb appeared with a wounded neck and throat, as if 
smitten at the altar as a victim." On this phrase, Clarke 
says: "As if now in the act of being offered. This is very 
remarkable. So important is the sacrificial offering of Christ 
in the sight of God, that he is still represented as being in 
the very act of pouring out his blood for the offences of man. 
This gives great advantage to faith; when any soul comes to 
the throne of grace, he find a sacrifice there provided for him 
to offer to God." 

Seven Horns and Seven Eyes. — Horns are symbols of 
power, eyes of wisdom; and seven is a number denoting com- 
pleteness, or perfection. We are thus taught that perfect power 
and perfect wisdom inhere in the Lamb, through the operation 
of the Spirit of God, called the seven. Spirits of God, to denote 
the fulness and perfection of its operation. 

He Came and Took the Booh. — Commentators have found 
an incongruity in the idea that the book was taken by a lamb, 
and have had recourse to several expedients to avoid the diffi- 
culty. But is it not a well-established principle that any ac- 
tion may be attributed to a symbol which could be appropriately 
performed by the person or being represented by the symbol ? 
And is not this all the explanation that the passage needs ? 
The Lamb, we know, is a symbol of Christ. We know there 
is nothing incongruous in Christ's taking -a book; and when 



CHAPTER 5, VERSES 5 - 10 



475 



we read that the book was taken, we think of the action, not 
as performed by the lamb, but by the one of whom the lamb 
is a symbol. 

Verse 8. And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and 
four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one 
of them harps, and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers 
of saints. 9. And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy 
to take the book, and to open the seals thereof : for thou wast slain, 
and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and 
tongue, and people, and nation; 10. And hast made us unto our 
God kings and priests : and we shall reign on the earth. 

Vials Full of Odors. — From this expression we form an 
idea of the employment of those redeemed ones represented by 
the four living creatures and the four and twenty elders. They 
have golden vials, or vessels, full of odors — or, as the margin 
reads, incense — which are the prayers of saints. This is a 
work of ministry such as pertains to priests. 

Scott says : " It is indisputably manifest that the four liv- 
ing creatures join in, or rather lead, the worship of the Lamb 
as having redeemed them to God; and this proves beyond con- 
troversy that part of the redeemed church is meant by this 
emblem, and not angels, whose worship is next described, but 
in language entirely different." 

A. Barnes, in his notes on this passage, remarks : " The 
idea here is, therefore, that the representatives of the church 
in heaven, the elders, spoken of as ' priests,' are described as 
officiating in the temple above in behalf of the church still 
below, and as offering incense while the church is engaged in 
prayer." 

The reader will remember that in the ancient typical 
service the high priest had many assistants ; and when we con- 
sider that we are now looking into the sanctuary in heaven, 
the conclusion at once follows that these redeemed ones are the 
assistants of our great High Priest above. For this purpose 
they were doubtless redeemed. And what could be more ap- 
propriate than that our Lord, in his priestly work for the 
human race, should be assisted by noble members of that 
race, whose holiness of life, and purity of character, had fitted 



476 



THE REVELATION 



them to be raised up for that purpose ? ( See remarks on 
chapter 4:4.) 

We are aware that many entertain a great aversion to the 
idea of there being anything real and tangible in heaven; and 
we can easily anticipate that the views here presented will be 
altogether too literal, for such. To sustain themselves in their 
position, they dwell much on the fact that the language is 
highly figurative, and that we cannot suppose there are or 
were any such things in heaven as John describes. We reply 
that, though the Revelation deals largely in figures, it does not 
deal in fictions. There is reality in all the things described; 
and we gain an understanding of the reality when we get a 
correct interpretation of the figures. Thus, in this vision we 
know that the One upon the throne is God. He is really there. 
We know the Lamb symbolizes Christ. He too is really there. 
He ascended with a literal, tangible body; and who can say 
that he does not still retain it 1 If, then, our great High Priest 
is a literal being, he must have a literal place in which to min- 
ister. And if the four living creatures and the four and 
twenty elders represent those whom Christ led up from the 
captivity of death at the time of his resurrection and ascen- 
sion, why are they not just as literal beings while there in 
heaven as they were when they ascended ? 

The Song. — It is called " a new song," new, probably, in 
respect to the occasion and the composition. They were the 
first that could sing it, being the first that were redeemed. 
They call themselves kings and priests. In what sense they 
arc priests has already been noticed, they being the assistants of 
Christ in his priestly work. In the same sense, doubtless, they 
are also kings ; for Christ is set down with his Father on his 
throne, and doubtless these, as ministers of his, have some part 
to act in connection with the government of heaven in refer- 
ence to this world. 

The Anticipation. — " We shall reign on the earth." Thus, 
notwithstanding they are redeemed, and surround the throne 
of God, and are in the presence of the Lamb that redeemed 
them, and are surrounded with the angelic hosts of heaven, 
where all is glory ineffable, their song contemplates a still 



CHAPTER 5, VERSES 8 - 12 



477 



higher state, when the great work of redemption shall be com- 
pleted, and they, with the whole redeemed family of God, of 
every age, shall reign on the earth, which is the promised in- 
heritance, and is to be the final and eternal residence of the 
saints. Pom. 4:13; Gal. 3:29; Ps. 37:11; Matt. 5:5; 2 
Peter 3:13; Isa. 65:17 - 25; Kev. 21:1-5. 

Verse 11. And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels 
round about the throne and the beasts and the elders : and the num- 
ber of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of 
thousands; 12. Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that 
was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, 
and honor, and glory, and blessing. 

The Heavenly Sanctuary. — How little conception have we 
of the magnitude and glory of the heavenly temple ! Into that 
temple John was introduced, at the opening of chapter 4, by 
the door which was opened in heaven. Into the same temple, 
be it remembered, he is still looking in verses 11 and 12. And 
now he beholds the heavenly hosts. (1) Pound about the 
throne are those represented by the four living creatures. (2) 
Next come the four and twenty elders. ( 3 ) Then John views, 
surrounding the whole, a multitude of the heavenly angels. 
How many ? How many would we suppose could convene 
within the heavenly temple ? " Ten thousand times ten thou- 
sand ! " exclaims the seer. In this expression alone we have 
one hundred million ! And then, as if no numerical expres- 
sion was adequate to embrace the countless throng, he further 
adds, "And thousands of thousands ! " Well might Paul call 
this, in Heb. 12 : 22, " an innumerable company of angels." 
And these were in the sanctuary above. Such was the com- 
pany that John saw assembled at the place where the worship 
of a universe centers, and where the wondrous plan of human 
redemption is going forward to completion. And the central 
object in this innumerable and holy throng was the Lamb of 
God; and the central act of his life, which claimed their ad- 
miration, was the shedding of his blood for the salvation of 
fallen man ; for every voice in all that heavenly host joined in 
the ascription which was raised, " Worthy is the Lamb that 
was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and 



478 



THE REVELATION 



strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing." Fitting as- 
semblage for such, a place! Fitting song of adoration to be 
raised to Him who by the shedding of his blood became a 
ransom for many, and who, as our great High Priest, still 
pleads its merits in the sanctuary above in our behalf. And 
here, before such an august assemblage, must our characters 
soon come up in final review. What shall fit us for the 
searching ordeal ? What shall enable us to rise and stand 
at last with the sinless throng above ? O, infinite merit of the 
blood of Christ! which can cleanse us from all our pollutions, 
and make us meet to tread the holy hill of Zion ! O, infinite 
grace of God! which can prepare us to endure the glory, and 
give us boldness to enter into his presence, even with exceed- 
ing joy! 

Verse 13. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the 
earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that 
are in them, heard I saying 1 , Blessing 1 , and honor, and glory, and 
power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb 
forever and ever. 14. And the four beasts said, Amen. And the 
four and twenty elders fell down and worshiped him that liveth for- 
ever and ever. 

A Clean Universe. — In verse 13 we have an instance of 
what very frequently occurs in the Scriptures ; namely, a decla- 
ration thrown in out of its chronological order for the purpose 
of following out to its- completion some previous statement or 
allusion. In this instance the time is anticipated when redemp- 
tion is finished. In verse 10 the four living creatures and four 
and twenty elders had declared, u We shall reign on the earth." 
JSTow the prophet's mind is carried forward to that time. The 
greatest act of Christ's intervention for man — the shedding of 
his blood — having been introduced, nothing could be more 
natural than that the vision should, for a moment, look over 
to the time when the grand result of the work then inaugu- 
rated should be accomplished, the number of the redeemed be 
made up, the universe be freed from sin and sinners, and a 
universal song of adoration go up to God and the Lamb. 

It is futile to attempt to apply this to the church in its 
present state, as most commentators do, or to any time in the 



CHAPTER 5, VERSES IS, U 



479 



past since sin entered the world, or even since Satan fell from 
his high position as an angel of light and love in heaven. For 
at the time of which John speaks, every creature in heaven 
and on earth, without any exception, was sending np its an- 
them of blessings to God. But to speak only of this world 
since the fall, cursings instead of blessings have been breathed 
out against God and his throne from the great majority of 
our apostate race. And so it will ever be while sin reigns. 

We find, then, no place for this scene which John describes, 
unless we go forward, according to the position above taken, to 
the time when the whole scheme of redemption is completed, 
and the saints enter upon their promised reign on the earth, to 
which the living creatures and elders looked forward in their 
song in verse 10. With this view, all is harmonious and plain. 
That reign on the earth commences after the second resurrec- 
tion. Dan. 7:27; 2 Peter 3:13; Rev. 21:1. At that 
resurrection, which takes place a thousand years subsequently 
to the first resurrection (Rev. 20:4, 5), occurs the perdition 
of ungodly men. 2 Peter 3 : 7. Then fire conies down from 
God out of heaven and devours them (Rev. 20: 9) ; and this 
fire that causes the perdition of ungodly men is the fire that 
melts and purifies the earth, as we learn from 2 Peter 3:7-13. 
Then sin and sinners are destroyed, the earth is purified, the 
curse with all its ills is forever wiped away, the righteous 
" shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father," and 
from a clean universe an anthem of praise and thanksgiving 
ascends to God. In all the fair domain of the great Creator, 
there is then no room for a vast receptacle of fire and brim- 
stone, where myriads, preserved by the direct power of a God 
of mercy, shall burn and writhe in unspeakable and eternal 
torment. In this glad anthem of jubilee there is no room for 
the discordant and hopeless wailings of the damned, and the 
curses and blasphemies of those who are sinning and suffering 
beyond the pale of hope. Every rebel voice has been hushed 
in death. They have been burned up root and branch, — Sa- 
tan and all his followers, deceiver and deceived. Mai. 4:1: 
Heb. 2 : 14. Into smoke have they consumed away. Ps. 37 : 
20. Like the perishable chaff have they vanished in the flames. 



480 



THE REVELATION 



Matt. 3 : 12. They have been annihilated, not as matter, bnt 
as conscious and intelligent beings; for they have become as 
though they had not been. Obadiah 16. 

To the Lamb, equally with the Father who sits upon the 
throne, praise is ascribed in this song of adoration. Com- 
mentators, with great unanimity, have seized upon this as 
proof that Christ must be coeval with the Father; for other- 
wise, say they, here would be ivorship paid to the creature 
which belongs only to the Creator. But this does not seem to 
be a necessary conclusion. The Scriptures certainly clearly 
intimate that the existence of Christ had a beginning (John 
1:1), which was not so in the case of the Father. (See re- 
marks on Rev. 3 : 14, where it is shown that Christ is not a 
created being.) But while he does not possess a co-eternity 
of past existence with the Father, the beginning of his exist- 
ence, as the begotten of the Father, antedates the entire work 
of creation, in relation to which he stands as joint creator with 
God. John 1:3; Fleb. 1 : 2. Could not the Father ordain 
that to such a being worship should be rendered equally with 
himself, without its being idolatry on the part of the worshiper ? 
He has raised him to positions which make it proper that he 
should be worshiped, and has even commanded that worship 
should be rendered him, which would not have been necessary 
had he been equal with the Father in eternity of existence. 
Christ himself declares that " as the Father hath life in him- 
self, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself." John 
5:26. The Father has " highly exalted him, and given him 
a name which is above every name." Phil. 2 : 9. And the 
Father himself says, " Let all the angels of God worship him." 
Heb. 1 : 6. These testimonies show that Christ is now an 
object of worship equally with the Father; but they do not 
prove that with him he holds an eternity of past existence. 

Coming back from the glorious scene anticipated in verse 
13 to events transpiring in the heavenly sanctuary before him, 
the prophet hears the four living creatures exclaim, Amen, 




CHAPTER VI. 

Verse 1. And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and 
I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts say- 
ing, Come and see. 2. And I saw, and behold a white horse ; and he 
that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and 
he went forth conquering, and to conquer. 

HAVING taken the book, the Lamb proceeds at once to 
open the seals; and the attention of the apostle is called 
to the scenes that transpire nnder each seal. The num- 
ber seven has already been noticed as denoting in the Scriptures 
completeness and perfection. The seven seals therefore em- 
brace the whole of a certain class of events, reaching down to 
the close of probationary time. Hence to say, as some do, 
that the seals denote a series of events reaching down perhaps 
to the time of Constantine, and the seven trumpets another 
series from that time farther on, cannot be correct. The trum- 
pets denote a series of events which transpire contemporane- 
ously with the events of the seals, but of an entirely different 
character. A trumpet is a symbol of Avar ; hence the trumpets 
denote great political commotions to take place among the na- 
tions during the gospel age. The seals denote events of a 
religious character, and contain the history of the church from 
the opening of the Christian era to the coming of Christ. 

Commentators have raised a question concerning the man- 
ner in which these scenes were represented before the apostle. 
Was it merely a written description of the .events which was 

(481) 



482 



THE REVELATION 



read to him as each successive seal was opened ? or was it 
a pictorial illustration of the events which the book contained, 
and which was presented before him as the seals were broken % 
or was it a scenic representation which passed before him, 
the different actors coming forth and performing their parts ? 
Barnes decides in favor of calling them pictorial illustrations ; 
for he thinks a merely written description would not answer 
to the language of the apostle setting forth what he saw, and 
a mere scenic representation could have no connection with 
the opening of the seals. But to the view held by Dr. Barnes 
there are two serious objections: (1) The book was said to 
contain only writing within, not pictorial illustrations ; and 
(2) John saw the characters which made up the various scenes, 
not fixed and motionless upon canvass, but living and moving, 
and engaged actively in the parts assigned them. The view 
which to us seems most consistent is that the book contained a 
record of events which were to transpire; and when the seals 
were broken, and the record was brought to light, the scenes 
were presented before John, not by the reading of the descrip- 
tion, but by a representation of what was described in the book 
being made to pass before his mind in living characters, in the 
place where the reality was to transpire ; namely, on the earth. 

The first symbol, a white horse, and the rider who bears a 
bow and to whom a crown is given, and who goes forth con- 
quering and to conquer, is a fit emblem of the triumphs of 
the gospel in the first century of this dispensation. The white- 
ness of the horse denotes the purity of faith in that age ; and 
the crown which was given to the rider, and his going forth 
conquering and to make still further conquests, the zeal and 
success with which the truth was promulgated by its earliest 
ministers. To this it is objected that the ministers of Christ 
and the progress of the gospel could not be properly repre- 
sented by such warlike symbols. But we ask, By what sym- 
bols could the work of Christianity better be represented when 
it went forth as an aggressive principle against the huge sys- 
tems of error with which it had at first to contend ? The rider 
upon this horse went forth — where ? His commission was un- 
limited. The gospel was to all the world. 



CHAPTER 6, VERSES $, k 



485 



Verse 3. And when lie had opened the second seal, I heard the 
second beast say, Come and see. 4. And there went out another horse 
that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take 
peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and 
there was given unto him a great sword. 

Perhaps the first noticeable feature in these symbols is the 
contrast in the colo'r of the horses. This is doubtless designed 
to be significant. If the whiteness of the first horse denoted 
the purity of the gospel in the period which that symbol covers, 
the redness of the second horse would signify that in this pe- 
riod that original purity began to be corrupted. The mystery . 
of iniquity already worked in Paul's day ; and the professed 
church of Christ, it would seem, w^as now so far corrupted by 
it as to require this change in the color of the symbol. Errors 
began to arise. Worldliness came in. The ecclesiastical power 
sought the alliance of the secular. Troubles and commotions 
were the result. The spirit of this period perhaps reached its 
climax as we come down to the days of Constantine, the first 
so-called Christian emperor, whose conversion to Christianity is 
dated by Mosneim in a. d. 323. — Ecclesiastical Commentaries. 

Of this period Dr. Pice remarks : "It represents a secular 
period, or union of church and state. Constantine aided the 
clergy, and put them under obligations to him. He legislated 
for the church, called the Council of Xicsea, and w T as most 
prominent in that Council. Constantine, not the gospel, had 
the glory of tearing down the heathen temples. The state had 
the glory instead of the church. Constantine made decrees 
against some errors, and was praised, and suffered to go on 
and introduce many other errors, and oppose some important 
truths. Controversies arose ; and when a new emperor took 
the throne, there was a rush of the clergy to get him on the 
side of their peculiar tenets. Mosheim says of this period, 
i There was continual w r ar and trouble.' " 

This state of things answers well to the declaration of the 
prophet that power was given to him that sat on the horse " to 
take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one an- 
other: and there was given, unto him a great sword." The 
Christianity of that time had mounted the throne, and bore 
the emblem of the civil power. 



486 



THE REVELATION 



Verse 5. And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the 
third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo, a black horse; 
and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. 6. And 
I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of 
wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see 
thou hurt not the oil and the wine. 

How rapidly the work of corruption progresses ! What a 
contrast in color between this symbol and the first one : A 
black horse — the very opposite of Avhite ! A period of great 
darkness and moral corruption in the church must be denoted 
by this symbol. By the events of the second seal the way was 
fully opened for that state of things to be brought about which 
is here presented. The time that intervened between the reign 
of Constantine and the establishment of the papacy in a. d. 
538 may be justly noted as the time when the darkest errors 
and grossest superstitions sprang up in the church. Of a 
period immediately succeeding the days of Constantine, Mos- 
heim says : — 

" Those vain fictions, which an attachment to the Platonic 
philosophy and to popular opinions had engaged the greatest 
part of the Christian doctors to adopt before the time of Con- 
stantine, were now confirmed, enlarged, and embellished in 
various ways. Hence arose that extravagant veneration for 
departed saints, and those absurd notions of a certain fire des- 
tined to purify separate souls, that now prevailed, and of which 
the public marks were everywhere to be seen. Hence also the 
celibacy of priests, the worship of images and relics, which in 
process of time almost utterly destroyed the Christian religion, 
or at least eclipsed its luster, and corrupted its very essence in 
the most deplorable manner. An enormous train of supersti- 
tions was gradually substituted for true religion and genuine 
piety. This odious revolution proceeded from a variety of 
causes. A ridiculous precipitation in receiving new opinions, 
a preposterous desire of imitating the pagan rites, and of blend- 
ing them with the Christian worship, and that idle propensity 
which the generality of mankind have toward a gaudy and 
ostentatious religion, all contributed to establish the reign of 
superstition upon the ruins of Christianity. Accordingly, fre- 
quent pilgrimages were undertaken to Palestine and to the 



CHAPTER 6, VERSES 5, 6 



487 



tombs' of the martyrs, as if there alone the sacred principles of 
virtue and the certain hope of salvation were to be acquired. 
The reins being once let loose to superstition, which knows no 
bounds, absurd notions and idle ceremonies multiplied almost 
every day. Quantities of dust and earth brought from Pales- 
tine, and other places remarkable for their supposed sanctity, 
were handed about as the most wonderful remedies against the 
violence of wicked spirits, and were sold and bought every- 
where at enormous prices. The public processions and suppli- 
cations by which the pagans endeavored to appease their gods, 
were now adopted into the Christian worship, and celebrated in 
many places with great pomp and magnificence. The virtues 
which had formerly been ascribed to the heathen temples, to 
their lustrations, to the statues of their gods and heroes, were 
now attributed to Christian churches, to water consecrated by 
certain forms cf prayer, and to the images of holy men. And 
the same privileges that the former enjoyed under the darkness 
of paganism, were conferred upon the latter under the light of 
the gospel, or, rather, under that cloud of superstition which 
was obscuring its glory. It is true that, as yet, images were 
not very common, nor were there any statues at all. But it is 
at the same time as undoubtedly certain as it is extravagant 
and monstrous, that the worship of the martyrs was modeled, 
by degrees, according to the religious services that were paid 
to the gods before the coming of Christ. 

" From these facts, which are but small specimens of the 
state of Christianity at this time, the discerning reader will 
easily perceive what detriment the church received from the 
peace and prosperity procured by Constantine, and from the 
imprudent methods employed to allure the different nations to 
embrace the gospel. The brevity we have proposed to observe 
in this history prevents our entering into an ample detail of the 
dismal effects that arose from the progress and the baneful 
influence of superstition, which had now become universal." 

Again he says: "A whole volume would be requisite to 
contain an enumeration of the various frauds which artful 
knaves practiced with success to delude the ignorant, when 
true religion was almost entirely superseded by horrid super- 
31 



488 



THE REVELATION 



stition."— Ecclesiastical History, Ifth cent., 'part 2. chap. 3. 

This extract from Mosheim contains a description of the 
period covered by the black horse of the third seal that answers 
accurately to the prophecy. It is seen by this how paganism 
was incorporated into Christianity, and how, during this pe- 
riod, the false system which resulted in the establishment of 
the papacy, rapidly rounded out its full outlines, and ripened 
into all its deplorable perfection of strength and stature. 

The Balances. — " The balances denoted that religion and 
civil power would be united in the person who avouM adminis- 
ter the executive power in the government, and that he would 
claim the judicial authority both in church and state. This 
was true among the Roman emperors from the days of Con- 
stantine until the reign of Justinian, when he gave the same 
judicial power to the bishop of Rome." — Millers Lectures, 
p. 181. 

The Wheat and Barley. — ■ " The measures of wheat and 
barley for a penny denote that the members of the church 
would be eagerly engaged after worldly goods, and the love of 
money would be the prevailing spirit of the times ; for they 
would dispose of anything for money." — Id. 

The Oil and the Wine. — These "denote the graces of the 
Spirit, faith and love, and there was great danger of hurting 
these, under the influence of so much of a worldly spirit. And 
it is well attested by all historians that the prosperity of the 
church in this age produced the corruptions which finally ter- 
minated in the falling away, and the setting up of the anti- 
christian abominations." - — Ld. 

It will be observed that the voice limiting the amount of 
wheat for a penny, and saying, " Hurt not the oil and the 
wine," is not spoken by any one on earth, but comes from the 
midst of the four living creatures ; signifying that, though the 
under shepherds, the professed ministers of Christ on earth, 
had no care for the flock, yet the Lord was not unmindful of 
them in this period of darkness. A voice comes from heaven. 
He takes care that the spirit of worldliness does not prevail 
to such a degree that Christianity should be entirely lost, or 



CHAPTER 6, VERSES 5-11 



489 



that the oil and the wine, the graces of genuine piety, should 
entirely perish from the earth. 

Verse 7. And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the 
voice 'of the fourth beast say, Come and see. 8. And I looked, and 
behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and 
Hell followed with him. And power was given unto him over the 
fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and 
with death, and with the beasts of the earth. 

The color of this horse is remarkable. The colors of the 
white, red, and black horses, mentioned in the preceding verses, 
are natural ; but a pale color is unnatural. The original word 
denotes the " pale or yellowish color " that is seen in blighted 
or sickly plants. A strange state of things in the professed 
church must be denoted by this symbol. The rider on this 
horse is named Death; and Hell (a^s, the grave) follows with 
him. The mortality is so great during this period that it 
would seem as if " the pale nations of the dead " had come 
upon earth, and were following in the w T ake of this desolating 
power. The period during which this seal, applies can hardly 
be mistaken. It must refer to the time in which the papacy 
bore its unrebuked, unrestrained, and persecuting rule, com- 
mencing about a. d. 538, and extending to the time when the 
Reformers commenced their w r ork of exposing the corruptions 
of the papal systems. 

"And power was given unto them" — him, says the mar- 
gin ; that is, the power personified by Death on the pale horse ; 
namely, the papacy. By the fourth part of the earth is doubt- 
less meant the territory over wdiich this pow r er had jurisdiction ; 
while the words sword, hunger, death (that is, some infliction 
which causes death, as exposure, torture, etc.), and beasts of 
the earth, are figures denoting the means by which it has put 
to death its martyrs, fifty millions of whom, according to the 
lowest estimate, call for vengeance from beneath its bloody 
altar. 

Verse 9. And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the 
altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God and for 
the testimony which they held : 10. And they cried with a loud voice, 
saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and 
avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? 11. And white 



490 



THE REVELATION 



robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, 
that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow serv- 
ants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should 
be fulfilled. 

The events set forth as transpiring under the fifth seal are 
the crying of the martyrs for vengeance, and the giving to them 
of white robes. The questions that at once suggest themselves 
for solution are, Does this seal cover a period of time ? and 
if so, what period ? Where is the altar under which these 
souls were seen ? What are these souls, and what is their con- 
dition ? What is meant by their cry for vengeance ? What 
is meant by white robes being given to them ? When do they 
rest for a little season % and what is signified by their brethren 
being killed as they were ? To all these questions we believe 
a satisfactory answer can be returned. 

1. The Fifth Seal Covers a Period of Time. — It seems con- 
sistent that this seal, like all the others, should cover a period 
of time; and the date of its application cannot be mistaken, if 
the preceding seals have been rightly located. Following the 
period of the papal persecution, the time covered by this seal 
would commence when the Reformation began to undermine 
the antichristian papal fabric, and restrain the persecuting 
power of the Romish Church. 

2. The Altar. — This cannot denote any altar in heaven, as 
it is evidently the place where these victims had been slain, — 
the altar of sacrifice. On this point, Dr. A. Clarke says : "A 
symbolical vision was exhibited, in which he saw an altar. 
And under it the souls of those who had been slain for the 
word of God — martyred for their attachment to Christianity 
— are represented as being newly slain as victims to idolatry 
and superstition. The altar is upon earth, not in heaven." 
A confirmation of this view is found in the fact that John is 
beholding scenes upon the earth. The souls are represented 
under the altar, just as victims slain upon it would pour out 
their blood beneath it, and fall by its side. 

3. The Souls under the Altar. — This representation is 
popularly regarded as a strong proof of the doctrine of the 
disembodied and conscious state of the dead. Here, it is 



CHAPTER 6, VERSES 9 - 11 



491 



claimed, are souls seen by John in a disembodied state; and 
they were conscious, and had knowledge of passing events; 
for they cried for vengeance on their persecutors. This view 
of the passages is inadmissible, for several reasons: (1) The 
popular view places these souls in heaven; but the altar of 
sacrifice on which they were slain, and beneath which they 
were seen, cannot be there. The only altar we read of in 
heaven is the altar of incense; but it would not be correct to 
represent victims just slain as under the altar of incense, as 
that altar was never devoted to such a use. (2) It would be 
repugnant to all our ideas of the heavenly state, to represent 
souls in heaven shut up under an altar. (3) Can we sup- 
pose that the idea of vengeance would reign so supreme in the 
minds of souls in heaven as to render them, despite the joy 
and glory of that ineffable state, dissatisfied and uneasy till 
vengeance was inflicted upon their enemies ? Would they not 
rather rejoiee that persecution raised its hand against them, 
and thus hastened them into the presence of their Redeemer, 
at whose right hand there is fulness of joy, and pleasures for- 
evermore ? But, further, the popular view which puts these 
souls in heaven, puts the wicked at the same time in the lake 
of fire, writhing in unutterable torment, and in full view of 
the heavenly host. This, it is claimed, is proved by the par- 
able of the rich man and Lazarus, as recorded in Luke 16. 
Xow the souls brought to view under the fifth seal were those 
who had been slain under the preceding seal, scores of years, 
and most of them centuries, before. Beyond any question, 
their persecutors had all passed off the stage of action, and, 
according to the view under consideration, were suffering all 
the torments of hell right before their eyes. 

Yet, as if not satisfied with this, they cry to God as though 
he were delaying vengeance on their murderers. What greater 
vengeance could they want ? Or, if their persecutors were still 
on the earth, they must know that they would, in a few years 
at most, join the vast multitude daily pouring through the gate 
of death into the world of woe. Their amiability is put in no 
better light even by this supposition. One thing, at least, is 
evident : The popular theory concerning the condition of the 



492 



THE REVELATION 



dead, righteous and wicked, cannot be correct; or the interpre- 
tation usually given to this passage is not correct; for they 
devour each other. 

But it is urged that these souls must be conscious ; for they 
cry to God. This argument would be of weight, were there 
no such figure of speech as personification. But while there 
is, it will be proper, on certain conditions, to attribute life, 
action, and intelligence to inanimate objects. Thus the blood 
of Abel is said to have cried to God from the ground. Gen. 
4 : 9, 10. The stone cried out of the wall, and the beam out 
of the timber answered it. Hab. 2:11. The hire of the labor- 
ers kept back by fraud cried, and the cry entered into the ears 
of the Lord of sabaoth. James 5:4. So the souls mentioned 
in our text could cry, and not thereby be proved to be conscious. 

The incongruity of the popular view on this verse is so 
apparent that Albert Barnes makes the following concession: 
" We are not to suppose that this literally occurred, and that 
John actually saw the souls of the martyrs beneath the altar, 
for the whole representation is symbolical; nor are we to sup- 
pose that the injured and the wronged in heaven actually pray 
for vengeance on those who wronged them, or that the re- 
deemed in heaven will continue to pray with reference to 
things on earth ; but it may be fairly inferred from this that 
there will be as real a remembrance of the wrongs of the per- 
secuted, the injured, and the oppressed, as if such a prayer 
were offered there ; and that the oppressor has as much to dread 
from the divine vengeance as if those whom he has injured 
should cry in heaven to the God who hears prayer, and who 
takes vengeance." — Notes on Revelation 6. 

On such passages as this, the reader is misled by the popu- 
lar definition of the word soul. From that definition, he is 
led to suppose that this text speaks of an immaterial, invisible, 
immortal essence in man, which soars into its coveted freedom 
on the death of its hindrance and clog, the mortal body. ISTo 
instance of the occurrence of the word in the original Hebrew 
or Greek will sustain such a definition. It oftenest means 
life, and is not infrequently rendered person. It applies to 
the dead as well as to the living, as may be seen by reference 



CHAPTER 6, VERSES 9 - 11 



493 



to Gen. 2 : 7, where the word living need not have been ex- 
pressed were life an inseparable attribute of the soul ; and to 
Num. 19 : 13, where the Hebrew Concordance reads " dead 
soul." Moreover, these souls pray that their blood may be 
avenged, — ■ an article which the immaterial soul, as popularly 
understood, is not supposed to possess. The word souls may 
be regarded as here meaning simply the martyrs, those who 
had been slain, the words souls of them being a periphra- 
sis for the whole person. They were represented to John as 
having been slain upon the altar of papal sacrifice, on this 
earth, and lying dead beneath it. They certainly were not 
alive when J ohn saw them under the fifth seal ; for he again 
brings to view the same company, in almost the same lan- 
guage, and assures us that the first time they live after their 
martyrdom, is at the resurrection of the just. Rev. 20 : 4 - 6. 
Lying there, victims of papal bloodthirstiness and oppression, 
they cried to God for vengeance in the same manner that 
Abel's blood cried to him from the ground. Gen. 4: 10. 

4. The White Robes. — ■ These were given as a partial an- 
swer to their cry, " How long, O Lord, . . . dost thou not 
judge and avenge our blood 1 " How was it ? — They had 
gone down to the grave in the most ignominious manner. 
Their lives had been misrepresented, their reputations tar- 
nished, their names defamed, their motives maligned, and their 
graves covered with shame and reproach, as containing the 
dishonored dust of the most vile and despicable of characters. 
Thus the Church of Rome, which then molded the sentiment 
of the principal nations of the earth, spared no pains to make 
her victims an abhorring unto all flesh. 

But the Reformation began its work. It began to be seen 
that the church was the corrupt and disreputable party, and 
those against whom it vented its rage were the good, the pure, 
and the true. The work went on among the most enlightened 
nations, the reputation of the church going down, and that of 
the martyrs coming up, until the corruptions of the papal 
abominations were fully exposed, and that huge system of in- 
iquity stood forth before the world in all its naked deformity, 
while the martyrs were vindicated from all the aspersions un- 



494 



THE REVELATION 



der which that antichristian church had sought to bury them. 
Then it was seen that they had suffered, not for being vile and 
criminal, but " for the word of God, and for the testimony 
which they held." Then their praises were sung, their vir- 
tues admired, their fortitude applauded, their names honored, 
and their memories cherished. White robes were thus given 
unto every one of them. 

5. Hie Little Season. — The cruel work of Romanism did 
not altogether cease, even after the work of the Reformation 
had become wide-spread and well established. Not a few ter- 
rible outbursts of Romish hate and persecution were yet to be 
felt by the church. Multitudes more were to be punished as 
heretics, and to join the great army of martyrs. The full vin- 
dication of their cause was to be delayed a little season. And 
during this time, Rome added hundreds of thousands to the 
vast throng of whose blood she had already become guilty. 
(See Buck's Theological Dictionary, art. Persecution.) But 
the spirit of persecution was finally restrained; the cause of 
the martyrs was vindicated ; and the " little season " of the 
fifth seal came to a close. 

Verse 12. And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, 
lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sack- 
cloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; 13. And the stars of 
heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, 
when she is shaken of a mighty wind. 14. And the heaven departed 
as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island 
were moved out of their places. 15. And the kings of the earth, and 
the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the 
mighty men, and every bond man, and every free man, hid them- 
selves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; 16. And said 
to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of 
him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 
17. For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able 
to stand? 

Such are the solemn and sublime scenes that transpire un- 
der the sixth seal. And a thought well calculated to awaken 
in every heart an intense interest in divine things, is the con- 
sideration that we are now living amid the momentous events 
of this seal, as will presently be proved. 

Between the fifth and sixth seals there seems to be a sudden 



CHAPTER 6, VERSES 12 - 17 495 



and entire change in the language, from the highly figurative 
to the strictly literal. Whatever may be the cause of this 
change, the change itself cannot well be denied. By no prin- 
ciple of interpretation can the language of the preceding seals 
be made to be literal, nor can the language of this any more 
easily be made to be figurative. We must therefore accept the 
change, even though we should be unable to explain it. There 
is a great fact, however, to which we would here call attention. 
It was in the period covered by this seal that the prophetic 
portions of God's word were to be unsealed, and many run to 
and fro, or " give their sedulous attention to the understanding 
of these things," and thereby knowledge on this part of God's 
word was to be greatly increased. And we suggest that it 
may be for this reason that the change in the language here 
occurs, and that the events of this seal, transpiring at a time 
when these things were to be fully . understood, are couched in 
no figures, but are laid before us in plain and unmistakable 
language. 

The Great Earthquake. — The first event under this seal, 
perhaps the one which marks its opening, is a great earthquake. 
As the most probable fulfilment of this prediction, we refer to 
the great earthquake of ISTov. 1, 1755, known as the earth- 
quake of Lisbon. Of this earthquake, Sears, in his Wonders 
of the World, pp. 50, 58, 381, says:— 

" The great earthquake of Nov. 1, 1755, extended over a 
tract of at least 4,000,000 square miles. Its effects were even 
extended to the waters in many places, where the shocks were 
not perceptible. It pervaded the greater portion of Europe, 
Africa, and America ; but its extreme violence was exercised 
on the southwestern part of the former. In Africa, this earth- 
quake was felt almost as severely as it had been in Europe. 
A great part of Algiers was destroyed. Many houses were 
thrown down at Fez and Mequinez, and multitudes were buried 
beneath the ruins. Similar effects were realized at Morocco. 
Its effects were likewise left at Tangier, at Tetuan, at Funchal 
in the Island of Madeira. It is probable that all Africa was 
shaken. At the north, it extended to Norway and Sweden. 
Germany, Holland, France, Great Britain, and Ireland were 



496 



THE REVELATION 



all more or less agitated by the same great commotion of the 
elements. Lisbon (Portugal), previous to the earthquake in 
1755, contained 150,000 inhabitants. Mr. Barretti says that 
90,000 persons ' were lost on that fatal day.' " 

On page 200 of the same work, we again read: " The ter- 
ror of the people was beyond description. Nobody wept; it 
was beyond tears. They ran hither and thither, delirious with 
horror and astonishment, beating their faces and breasts, cry- 
ing, ' Misericordia; the world's at an end!' Mothers forgot 
their children, and ran about loaded with crucifixed images. 
Unfortunately, many ran to the churches for protection; but 
in vain was the sacrament exposed; in vain did the poor crea- 
tures embrace the altars; images, priests, and people were 
buried in one common ruin." 

The Encyclopedia Americana states that this earthquake 
extended also to Greenland, and of its effects upon the city of 
Lisbon further says: " The city then contained about 150,000 
inhabitants. The shock was instantly followed by the fall of 
every church and convent, almost all the large public build- 
ings, and more than one fourth of the houses. In about two 
hours after the shock, fires broke out in different quarters, and 
raged with such violence for the space of nearly three days that 
the city was completely desolated. The earthquake happened 
on a holy day, when the churches and convents were full of 
people, very few of whom escaped." 

Sir Charles Lyell gives the following graphic description of 
this remarkable phenomenon : — 

" In no part of the volcanic region of southern Europe has 
so tremendous an earthquake occurred in modern times as that 
which began on the 1st of November, 1755, at Lisbon. A 
sound of thunder was heard underground, and immediately 
afterward a violent shock threw down the greater part of that 
city. In the course of about six minutes, sixty thousand per- 
sons perished. The sea first retired, and laid the bar dry; it 
then rolled in, rising fifty feet above its ordinary level. The 
mountains of Arrabida, Estrella, Julio, Marvan, and Cintra, 
being some of the largest in Portugal, were impetuously shaken, 
as it were from their very foundations; and some of them 



CHAPTER 6, VERSES 12-17 



499 



opened at their summits, which were split and rent in a won- 
derful manner, huge masses of them being thrown down into 
the adjacent valleys. Flames are related to have issued from 
these mountains, which are supposed to have been electric; 
they are also said to have smoked; but vast clouds of dust 
may have given rise to this appearance. 

" The most extraordinary circumstance which occurred at 
Lisbon during the catastrophe, was the subsidence of the new 
quay, built entirely of marble, at an immense expense. A 
great concourse of people had collected there for safety, as a 
spot where they might be beyond the reach of falling ruins; 
but suddenly the quay sunk down with all the people on it, 
and not one of the dead bodies ever floated to the surface. 
A great number of boats and small vessels anchored near it, 
all full of people^ were swallowed up as in a whirlpool. No 
fragments of these wrecks ever rose again to the surface, and 
the water in the place where the quay had stood is stated, in 
many accounts, to be unfathomable ; but Whitehurst says he 
ascertained it to be one hundred fathoms. 

" In this case we must either suppose that a certain tract 
sunk down into a subterranean hollow, which would cause a 
' fault ' in the strata to the depth of six hundred feet, or we 
may infer, as some have done, from the entire disappearance of 
the substances engulfed, that a chasm opened and closed again. 
Yet in adopting this latter hypothesis, we must suppose that the 
upper part of the chasm, to the depth of one hundred fathoms, 
remained open after the shock. According to the observations 
made at Lisbon in 1837 by Mr. Sharpe, the destroying effects 
of this earthquake were confined to the tertiary strata, and 
were most violent on the blue clay, on which the lower part of 
the city is constructed. ~Not a building, he says, on the sec- 
ondary limestone or the basalt was injured. 

" The great area over which this Lisbon earthquake ex- 
tended is very remarkable. The movement was most violent 
in Spain, Portugal, and the north of Africa; but nearly the 
whole of Europe, and even the West Indies, felt the shock on 
the same day. A seaport called St. Ubes, about twenty miles 
south of Lisbon, was engulfed. At Algiers and Fez in Africa, 



500 



THE REVELATION 



the agitation of the earth was equally violent, and at the dis- 
tance of eight leagues from Morocco, a village, with the inhab- 
itants to the number of about eight or ten thousand persons, 
together with all their cattle, was swallowed up. Soon after, 
the earth closed again over them. 

" The shock was felt at sea, on the deck of a ship to the 
west of Lisbon, and produced very much the same sensation as 
on dry land. Off St. Lucas, the captain of the ship ' Nancy 7 
felt his vessel shaken so violently that he thought she had 
struck the ground, but, on heaving the lead, found a great 
depth of water. Captain Clark, from Denia, in latitude 36° 
24' ~N., between nine and ten in the morning, had his ship 
shaken and strained as if she had struck upon a> rock. An- 
other ship, forty leagues west of St. Vincent, experienced so 
violent a concussion that the men were thrown a foot and a 
half perpendicularly up from the deck. In Antigua and 
Barbadoes, as also in Norway, Sweden, Germany, Holland, 
Corsica, Switzerland, and Italy, tremors and slight oscillations 
of the ground were felt. 

u The agitation of lakes, rivers, and springs in Great Britain 
Avas remarkable. At Loch Lomond, in Scotland, for example, 
the water, without the least apparent cause, rose against its 
banks, and then subsided below its usual level. The greatest 
perpendicular height of this swell was two feet four inches. It 
is said that the movement of this earthquake was undulatory, 
and that it traveled at the rate of twenty miles a minute. A 
great wave swept over the coast of Spain, and is said to have 
been sixty feet high at Cadiz. At Tangier, in Africa, it rose 
and fell eighteen times on the coast ; at Funchal, in Maderia, 
it rose full fifteen feet perpendicular above high-water mark, 
although the tide, which ebbs and flows there seven feet, was 
then at half ebb. Besides entering the city and committing 
great havoc, it overflowed other seaports in the island. At 
Kinsale, in Ireland, a body of water rushed into the harbor, 
whirled round several vessels, and poured into the market- 
place. 

" It was before stated that the sea first retired at Lisbon ; 
and this retreat of the ocean from the shore at the commence- 



CHAPTER 6, VERSES 12 - 17 



501 



ment of an earthquake, and its subsequent return in a violent 
wave, is a common occurrence. In order to account for the 
phenomenon, Mitchell imagines a subsidence at the bottom of 
the sea from the giving way of the roof of some cavity, in 
consequence of a vacuum produced by the condensation of 
steam. Such condensation, he observes, might be the first 
effect of the introduction of a large body of water into fissures 
and cavities already filled with steam, before there had been 
sufficient time for the heat of the incandescent lava to turn 
so large a supply of water into steam, which, being soon ac- 
complished, causes a greater explosion." — Library of Choice 
Literature, Vol VII, pp. 162, 16S. 

If the reader will look on his atlas at the countries above 
mentioned, he will see how large a portion of the earth's sur- 
face was agitated by this awful convulsion. Other earthquakes 
may have been as severe in particular localities, but no other 
one of which we have any record, combining so great an ex- 
tent with such a degree of severity, has ever been felt on this 
earth. It certainly supplies all the conditions necessary to 
constitute it a fitting event to mark the opening of the seal. 

The Darkening of the San. — Following the earthquake, it 
is announced that " the sun became black as sackcloth of hair." 
This portion of the prediction has also been fulfilled. Into a 
detailed account of the wonderful darkening of the sun, May 
19, 1780, we need not here enter. Most persons of general 
reading, it is presumed, have seen some account of it. The 
following detached declarations from different authorities will 
give an idea of its nature : — ■ 

" The dark day of Northern America was one of those 
wonderful phenomena of nature which will always be read of 
with interest, but which philosophy is at a loss to explain." — 
Herschel. 

" In the month of May, 1780, there was a terrific dark 
day in New England, when ' all faces seemed to gather black- 
ness/ and the people were filled with fear. There was great 
distress in the village where Edward Lee lived, ' men's hearts 
failing them for fear ' that the Judgment-day was at hand ; 
and the neighbors all flocked around the holy man," who 



502 



THE REVELATION 



" spent the gloomy hours in earnest prayer for the distressed 
multitude." — Tract No. 379, American Tract Society ; Life 
of Edward Lee. 

" Candles were lighted in many houses. Birds were silent 
and disappeared. Fowls retired to roost. It was the general 
opinion that the day of Judgment was . at hand." — President 
Dwight, in Connecticut Historical Collections. 

u The darkness was such as to occasion farmers to leave 
their work in the field, and retire to their dwellings. Lights 
became necessary to the transaction of business within doors. 
The darkness continued through the day." — Gage's History 
of Rowley, Mass. 

" The cocks crew as at daybreak, and everything bore the 
appearance and gloom of night. The alarm produced by this 
unusual aspect of the heavens was very great." — Portsmouth 
Journal, May 20, 18J/.3. 

" It was midnight darkness at noonday. . . . Thousands 
of people who could not account for it from natural causes, 
were greatly terrified ; and indeed, it cast a universal gloom 
on the earth. The frogs and night-hawks began their 
notes." — Dr. Adams. 

• " Similar days have occasionally been known, though in- 
ferior in the degree or extent of their darkness. The causes 
of these phenomena are unknown. They certainly were not 
the result of eclipses." — S ears' s Guide to Knowledge. 

"Almost, if not altogether alone, as the most mysterious 
and yet unexplained phenomenon of its kind in nature's diver- 
sified range of events, during the last century, stands the dark 
day of May 19th, 1780, — a most unaccountable darkening of 
the whole visible heavens and atmosphere in J^ew England, — 
which brought intense alarm and distress to multitudes of 
minds, as well as dismay to the brute creation, the fowls flee- 
ing, bewildered, to their roosts, and the birds to their nests, 
and the cattle returning to their stalls. Indeed, thousands of 
the good people of that day became fully convinced that the 
end of all things terrestrial had come. . . . The extent of 
this darkness was also very remarkable. It was observed at 
the most easterly regions of Xew England ; westward to the 



CHAPTER 6, VERSES 12-11 



503 



farthest parts of Connecticut, and at Albany; to the south- 
ward, it was observed all along the seacoast; and to the 
north, as far as the American settlements extended. It prob- 
ably far exceeded these boundaries, but the exact limits were 
never positively known." — Our First Century, by R. M. 
D evens, pp. 89, 90. 

The poet Whittier thus speaks of this event: — 

" 'Twas on a May-day of the far old year 
Seventeen hundred eighty, that there fell 
Over the bloom and sweet life of the spring, 
Over the fresh earth and the heaven of noon, 
A horror of great darkness, like the night 
In day of which the Norland sagas tell — 
The Twilight of the Gods. The low-hung sky 
Was black with ominous clouds, save where its rim 
Was fringed with a dull glow, like that which climbs 
The crater's sides from the red hell below. 
Birds ceased to sing, and all the barnyard fowls 
Roosted; the cattle at the pasture bars 
Lowed, and looked homeward ; bats on leathern wings 
Flitted abroad; the sounds of labor died; 
Men prayed, and women wept ; all ears grew sharp 
To hear the doom-blast of the trumpet shatter 
The black sky, that the dreadful face of Christ 
Might look from the rent clouds, not as he looked 
A loving guest at Bethany, but stern 
As justice and inexorable law." 

The next most notable dark day, compared with that of 
1780, was in 1762. Of this, Mr. Devens (Our First Century, 
p. 96) speaks as follows: — 

" There was also a remarkable darkness at Detroit and 
vicinity, Oct. 19, 1762, being almost total for the greater part 
of the day. It was dark at daybreak, and this continued till 
nine o'clock, when it cleared up a little, and for the space of 
about a quarter of an hour the body of the sun was visible, it 
appearing as red as blood, and more than three times as large 
as usual. The air all this time was of a dingy yellowish color. 
At half past one o'clock it was so dark as to necessitate the 
lighting of candles, in order to attend to domestic duties. At 
about three in the afternoon the darkness became more dense, 
increasing in intensity until half past three, when the wind 
32 



504 



THE REVELATION 



breezed up from the southwest, and brought on a slight fall of 
rain, accompanied with a profuse quantity of fine, black parti- 
cles, in appearance much like sulphur both in smell and 
quality. A sheet of clean paper held out in the rain was 
rendered quite black wherever the drops fell upon it; but 
when held near the fire, it turned to a yellow color, and, 
when burned, it fizzed on the paper like wet powder. So 
black did these powdery particles turn everything upon which 
they fell, that even the river was covered with a black froth, 
which, when skimmed off the surface, resembled the lather of 
soap, with this difference, that it was more greasy, and its 
color as black as ink. At seven in the evening the air was 
more clear. This phenomenon was observed throughout a vast 
region of country; and though various conjectures were in- 
dulged in as to the cause of so extraordinary an occurrence, 
the same degree of mystery attaches to it as to that of 1780, 
confounding the wisdom of the most learned philosophers and 
men of science." 

Let it be noticed that this darkness also falls within the 
time specified in the prophecy for the occurrence of this sign; 
namely, between the years 1755 and 1798. This point is fur- 
ther discussed on pages 426 - 431. 

The Moon Became as Blood. — The darkness of the follow- 
ing night, May 19, 1780, was as unnatural as that of the day 
had been. 

" The darkness of the following evening was probably as 
gross as has ever been observed since the Almighty fiat gave 
birth to light. I could not help conceiving at the time that 
if every luminous body in the universe had been shrouded in 
impenetrable darkness, or struck out of existence, the darkness 
could not have been more complete. A sheet of white paper 
held within a few inches of the eyes, was equally invisible with 
the blackest velvet." — Mr. Tenney, of Exeter, N. H., quoted 
by Mr. Gage to the " Historical Society/' 

Dr. Adams, already quoted, wrote concerning the night 
following the dark day: — 

"Almost every one who happened to be out in the evening 
got lost in going home. The darkness was as uncommon in 



METEORIC SHOWER, OR FA LLING STARS, OF NOV. 13, 1833 



CHAPTER 6, VERSES 12 - 17 



507 



the night as it was in the day, as the moon had fulled the 
day before." 

This statement respecting the phase of the moon proves the 
impossibility of an eclipse of the sun at that time. 

And whenever on this memorable night the moon did ap- 
pear, as at certain times it did, it had, according to this proph- 
ecy, the appearance of blood. 

And the Stars of Heaven Fell. — The voice of history still 
is, Fulfilled! Being a much later event than the darkening of 
the sun, there are multitudes in whose memories it is as fresh 
as if it were but yesterday. We refer to the great mete- 
oric shower of Nov. 13, 1833. On this point a few extracts 
will suffice. 

"At the cry, £ Look out of the window,' I sprang from a 
deep sleep, and with wonder saw the east lighted up with the 
daAvn and meteors. ... I called to my wife to behold; and 
while robing, she exclaimed, ' See how the stars fall ! ' I 
replied, ' That is the wonder ; ' and we felt in our hearts that 
it was a sign of the last days. Tor truly ' the stars of heaven 
fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, 
when she is shaken of a mighty wind.' Rev. 6 : 13. This lan- 
guage of the prophet has always been received as metaphorical. 
Yesterday it was literally fulfilled. The ancients understood by 
aster in Greek, and stella in Latin, the smaller lights of heaven. 
The refinement of modern astronomy has made distinctions 
between stars of heaven and meteors of heaven. Therefore 
the idea of the prophet, as it is expressed in the original 
Greek, was literally fulfilled in the phenomenon of yesterday, 
so as no man before yesterday had conceived to be possible 
that it should be fulfilled. The immense size and distance of 
the planets and fixed stars forbid the idea of their falling 
unto the earth. Larger bodies cannot fall in myriads unto a 
smaller body; and most of the planets and all the fixed stars 
are many times larger than our earth ; but these fell toward 
the earth. And how did they fall ? Neither myself nor one 
of the family heard any report; and were I to hunt through 
nature for a simile, I could not find one so apt, to illustrate 
the appearance of the heavens, as that which St. John uses 



508 



THE REVELATION 



in the prophecy before quoted : ' The stars of heaven fell unto 
the earth.' They were not sheets, or flakes, or drops of fire; 
but they were what the world understands by falling stars ; 
and one speaking to his fellow, in the midst of the scene, 
would say, ' See how the stars fall ! ' And he who heard 
would not stop to correct the astronomy of the speaker, any 
more than he would reply, ' The sun does not move/ to one 
who should tell him, ' The sun is rising.' The stars fell ' even 
as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of 
a mighty wind.' Here is the exactness of the prophet. The 
falling stars did not come as if from several trees shaken, 
but from one. Those which appeared in the east fell toward 
the east; those which appeared in the north fell toward the 
north ; those which appeared in the west fell toward the west ; 
and those which appeared in the south (for I went out of 
my residence into the park), fell toward the south. And 
they fell not as ripe fruit falls; far from it; but they flew, 
they were cast, like the unripe, which at first refuses to leave 
the branch, and when, under a violent pressure, it does break 
its hold, it flies swiftly, straight off, descending; and in the 
multitude falling, some cross the track of others, as they are 
thrown with more or less force, but each one falls on its own 
side of the tree." — Henry Dana Ward. 

" Extensive and magnificent showers of shooting stars have 
been known to occur at various places in modern times ; but 
the most universal and wonderful which has ever been re- 
corded, is that of the 13th of November, 1833, the whole fir- 
mament, over all the United States, being then, for hours, in 
fiery commotion. No celestial phenomenon has ever occurred 
in this country since its first settlement, which was viewed 
with such intense admiration by one class in the community, 
or with so much dread and alarm by another. . . . During 
the three hours of its continuance, the day of judgment was 
believed to be only waiting for sunrise." — Our First Century, 
p. 329. 

The effect of this phenomenon upon the negro population 
is described by a Southern planter as follows : — 

" I was suddenly awakened by the most distressing cries 



CHAPTER 6, VERSES 12 - 17 



509 



that ever fell on my ears. Shrieks of horror and cries for 
mercy could be heard from most of the negroes of three plan- 
tations, amounting in all to some six or eight hundred. While 
earnestly and breathlessly listening for the cause, I heard a 
faint voice near the door calling my name. I arose, and tak- 
ing my sword, stood at the door. At this moment I heard 
the same voice still beseeching me to rise, and saying, ' O my 
God ! the world is on fire ! ' I then opened the door, and it 
is difficult to say which excited me most, the awfulness of the 
scene or the distressed cries of the negroes. Upward of one 
hundred lay prostrate on the ground, some speechless, and 
others uttering the bitterest moans, but with their hands raised, 
imploring God to save the world and them. The scene was 
truly awful: for never did rain fall much thicker than the 
meteors fell toward the earth ; east, west, north, and south, 
it was the same. In a word, the whole heavens seemed in 
motion." — Id., p. 330. 

"Arago computes that not less than two hundred and forty 
thousand meteors were at the same time visible above the hori- 
zon of Boston/ 3 And of the display at Xiagara it is said that 
" no spectacle so terribly grand and sublime was ever before 
beheld by man as that of the firmament descending in fiery 
torrents over the dark and roaring cataract/' — Id., ib. 

These signs in the sun, moon, and stars are the same as 
those so strikingly predicted by our Lord, and recorded by the 
evangelists in Matthew 21, Mark 13, and Luke 21. In these 
records, not only the same signs are given, but the same time 
is pointed out for their fulfilment ; namely, a period com- 
mencing just this side of the long and bloody persecution of 
the papal power. In Matt. 24: 21, 22, the 1260 years of 
papal supremacy are brought to view ; and " immediately after 
the tribulation of those days" (verse 29) the sun was to be 
darkened, etc. Mark is still more definite, and says, " In 
those days, after that tribulation." The days, commencing in 
a. d. 538, ended in 1798; but before they ended, the spirit of 
persecution had been restrained by the Reformation, and that 
tribulation of the church had ceased. And in this period, 
exactly at the time specified in the prophecy, the fulfilment 



610 



THE REVELATION 



of these signs commenced in the darkening of the snn and 
moon. 

The first instance of the falling of the stars worthy of any 
notice, though others of local and minor importance may be 
mentioned before it, took place in 1799. To the great display 
of 1833, by far the most brilliant of any on record, we have 
already referred. Of the extent of this shower, Professor Olm- 
stead, of Yale College, a distinguished meteorologist, says: — 

" The extent of the shower of 1833 was such as to cover 
no inconsiderable part of the earth's surface; from the middle 
of the Atlantic on the east to the Pacific on the west, and 
from the northern coast of South America to undefined re- 
gions among the British possessions on the north, the exhibi- 
tion was visible, and everywhere presented nearly the same 
appearance." 

From this it appears that this exhibition was confined 
exclusively to the Western world. But in the year 1866, an- 
other remarkable occurrence of this kind took place, this time 
in the East, nearly as magnificent in some places as that of 
1833, and visible so far as ascertained, throughout the greater 
part of Europe. Thus the principal portions of the earth 
have now been warned by this sign. 

Observation has shown that these meteoric displays occur 
at regular intervals of about thirty-three years. The skeptic 
will doubtless seize upon this as a pretext for throwing them 
out of the catalogue of signs. But if they are not more than 
ordinary occurrences, the question is to be answered why they 
have not occurred- as regularly and prominently centuries in 
the past as in the last hundred years. This is a question 
science cannot answer, nor can it offer anything more than 
conjecture as to their cause. 

One significant fact will be noticed in connection with all 
the foregoing signs: They were each instinctively associated 
in the minds of the people, at the time of their occurrence, 
with the great day of which they were the forerunners. And 
on each occasion the cry was raised, " The judgment has come ; 
the world's at an end." 

But the objector answers, These phemonena in the sun, 



CHAPTER 6, VERSES 12 - 17 



511 



moon, and stars cannot be signs of the end, because there 
have been many instances of such occurrences ; and pointing 
to some ten other periods of remarkable darkness besides that 
of 1780, and to several occasions when stars or meteoric 
showers have fallen, he asks, with an air of triumph, which 
one we will take for the sign. That this is not a fanciful 
representation of the objection, the following facts will dem- 
onstrate. 

In 1878 we noticed in one of the leading dailies of Chicago 
a question from a correspondent in Vermont, and the reply 
given by the paper, as follows : — 

" Will you give the causes (and proof) of the ' dark day ' 
of 1780, the 19th of May, I believe ? An 'Advent preacher ' 
has been preaching in this neighborhood, and alluded to it as 
a sign of the destruction of the world." 

And the reply is given thus : — 

" The dark day of 1780 was produced by entirely natural 
causes, and was about as much a sign of the destruction of 
the world as of the advent of the potato-beetle. The darkness, 
said Dr. Samuel Tenney, of Exeter, X. TL, was produced by 
common clouds. Between these common clouds and the earth 
intervened another stratum of great thickness. As the stratum 
advanced, the darkness commenced, and increased with its 
progress. The uncommon thickness of this stratum was oc- 
casioned by two strong currents of wind from the southward 
and westward, condensing the vapors and drawing them in a 
northwest direction. The density of this stratum was owing 
to the vapor and smoke it contained. These so-called dark 
days have not been uncommon, being known in 366 b. c, 295 
b. c.j 252 a. d., 746, 775, 1732, 1762, 1780, 1783, 1807, 1816. 
The one was as prophetic as any other, and no more so." 

It would have been a little more to the satisfaction of any 
one who wishes to know the reasons of his faith, if the writer 
of the reply had stated where he found his evidence for all his 
assertions. And we would like a little light on such points as 
this: From whence came that "stratum of great thickness"? 
Of what was it composed ? How was it formed ? This cav- 
iler's explanation amounts to just this : It was dark because 



512 



THE REVELATION 



there was great darkness. He simply states the fact in an- 
other form, and calls that an explanation. His own statement 
needs explaining as really as the one to which he refers. " The 
uncommon thickness of the stratum was caused by two strong 
currents of wind/' etc. How did those winds chance to come 
just then, and just when there were vapors to condense ? And 
what caused the vapors ? Then how could currents from the 
west and south draw the vapors " in a northwest direction " ? 
Common philosophy would assign them, under such circum- 
stances, a northeasterly direction. Our friend must be care- 
ful, or he will make the dark day to be a greater phenomenon 
than we have ever claimed it to be. 

But, further, we would ask how, according to the reply 
above given, the words of our Lord can ever be fulfilled. He 
says that the sun shall he darkened; and he means the literal 
sun, for he speaks of men and things on the earth in contrast 
with it. Luke 21 : 25. And he says that when it is thus 
darkened, it is a sign of the end; for when we see these 
things come to pass, he tells us that we are to know that he 
is near, even at the doors. But according to the writer of 
the foregoing, there never can be any sign of this nature. He 
declares there never has been in the past ; and suppose such 
a phenomenon should occur again, would it be a sign ? — Not 
in his eyes : for the hypothesis of vapors, winds, natural laws, 
and common occurrences, would instantly fly to his scoffing 
lips. But something of this kind is to constitute a sign, for 
the Lord himself has declared it; and we would like to ask 
the objector how a darkening of the sun should differ from that 
of 1780 to answer to the prophecy and constitute it a sign? 

It is also urged that there have been many such events, 
hence it can be no sign; and seven dark days are mentioned 
by our writer before 1780, and three since, for which, how- 
ever, he forgot to give his authority. But how does it happen 
that nobody has seemed to pay any attention to these days, or 
make any account of them? and why is it that all fix upon 
May 19, 1780, as the only one worthy of special note, giving 
it, by way of distinction, the title, The Dark Day? 

The answer is obvious. It occupies a pre-eminent position 



CHAPTER 6, VERSES 12-17 



513 



in this respect. It towers up far above all others as the one 
most remarkable and noteworthy for its awful phenomena. 

But we are not left to decide the matter from this evidence 
alone ; for our Lord has not only told us that such an event 
should occur as a sign of his coming, but he has told us also 
when it should occur. " Immediately after the tribulation of 
those days/' says Matthew. Mark is more definite, and says, 
"In those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be dark- 
ened," etc. Mark 13 : 24. The " days " are the days of papal 
supremacy, the 1260 years, from 538 to 1798; the tribulation 
is the oppression of Christians by the Catholic power till re- 
strained by the work of the Reformation. The tribulation 
may be said to have ceased about the middle of the eighteenth 
century. The " days " ended within two years of the close 
of that century. Thus, by the fixed terms of the prophecy 
we are shut up to a period of about fifty years in length, and 
ending in 1798, in which to look for that darkening of the 
sun which was to be a sign of the Lord's soon coming. 

Again, the darkening of the sun was to be the second great 
event to take place under the sixth seal. Rev. 6 : 12. The 
first, and the one which marked the opening of that seal, was 
a great earthquake, shown to be, by comparison with the pre- 
ceding seals, the great earthquake of Lisbon, Nov. 1, 1755. 
Between this point and the end of the papal period in 1798, 
the sun was to be darkened as a sign of the end. Here we 
are shut up to a period of time positively only forty- three 
years in length, in which to look for that darkening of the 
sun which was the subject of the prediction. Now it matters 
not if our opponents should claim seven thousand dark days 
instead of seven, each as notable as the one of 1780, it would 
not affect the prediction or the sign in the least degree. It 
matters not how many nor what kind of dark days there may 
have been in other ages ; we look for one which was to take 
place in that brief, specified period, as the predicted sign. 

We fix our eyes upon that time, and what do we behold? 
We find not only. the darkening of the sun, as foretold, but we 
find a dark day so much more notable than all others that it 



514 



THE REVELATION 



it set forth by way of pre-eminence as " the dark day/' while 
in general history all others are passed by in silence. 

Viewed, from one point, it is very strange that people can 
overlook considerations of this nature which are so decisive 
upon this question; from another, it is not. What a man 
does n't want to see, he can very easily keep from seeing. But 
we apprehend the lack both of inclination and ability is ac- 
counted for by the prophet Daniel, when he says, " The wicked 
shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand." 

Of the dark day, Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, edition 
of 1884, page 1604, says:— 

"Dark Day, The. May 19, 1780; so called on account 
of a remarkable darkness on that day, extending over all New 
England. In some places persons could not see to read com- 
mon print ,in the open air for several hours together. Birds 
sang their evening song, disappeared, and became silent; fowls 
went to roost; cattle sought the barn-yard; and candles were 
lighted in the houses. The obscuration began about ten o'clock 
in the morning, and continued till the middle of the next 
night, but with differences of degree and duration in different 
places. For several days previous, the wind had been vari- 
able, but chiefly from the southwest and the northeast. The 
true cause of this remarkable phenomenon is not known." 

While the learned editor of Webster's Dictionary testifies 
so positively that " the true cause of the phenomenon is not 
known/' it is remarkable how flippantly many smaller minds 
proceed to offer their explanations, and account for it from 
natural causes. Those who lived at the time, and had at least 
as good an opportunity to mark all its strange features and 
unnatural manifestations as people of the present time, were 
filled with awe at the occurrence, and for years, so long as 
those who saw it survived, were unable to explain it; but 
their degenerate sons, the wondrously wise generation of the 
present, living over a hundred years from the time of its oc- 
currence, and having never seen anything of the kind, as- 
sume to explain it with all the ease and nonchalance with 
which they would tell us that two and two make four. 

As the time when we were to look for the beginning of the 



CHAPTER 6, VERSES 12 - 17 



515 



signs is so definitely located, it is further objected that the 
falling of the stars in 1833 cannot be one of the signs, be- 
cause, according to Mark 13 : 24, 25, they also should have 
fallen within those days, or previous to 1798, as this event 
is immediately connected by the word and to the signs in the 
sun and moon. 

We reply by calling attention to the fact that there are 
more events than simply the falling of the stars that are linked 
to the series by the word and. Thus : a And " the stars of 
heaven shall fall, " and " the powers that are in heaven shall 
be shaken, " and " then shall they see the Son of man coining, 
" and " then shall he send his angels to gather the elect. Now 
the language certainly is not designed to convey the idea that 
all these things were to take place within those days ; for 
in that case we would have the coming of Christ itself take 
place before the days ended. Verse 29, stating the conclusion 
of the argument, says, " So ye in like manner, when ye shall 
see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the 
doors." Matthew puts it in still stronger language when he 
says, " So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, 
know that it [margin, he, Christ] is near, even at the doors." 
But it would be absurd to say that we must wait till the com- 
ing of Christ takes place before we can know that that event 
is near, even at the doors. 

These facts, then, plainly appear; namely, that a series of 
associated events is given us, covering quite a period of time, 
beginning at some point in the past, and reaching down to 
and including the second coining of Christ. The beginning 
of the series is placed at a point before the close of a certain 
prophetic period designated as " those days," that is, the 1260 
years of papal oppression upon the church; but the end of 
the series lies far outside of that period, as already shown. 
'Now the question to be decided is, How many events of the 
series given us are to be looked for before the date by which 
"those days" are limited, that is, before 1798, where the 
1260 days, or years, terminated ? The only data we have on 
which to frame an answer are the facts already noticed ; namely, 



516 



THE REVELATION 



that the events begin within that period, but close outside of 
it, and no specified number is given as belonging to that period. 

The conclusion is therefore inevitable that if the first one 
of the events designated comes to pass within the specified 
time, the prophecy is fulfilled, though all the' others lie out- 
side of that time. Had the sun alone been darkened before 
1798, it would have been sufficient to fulfil the prophecy. 
The moon even might have been darkened this side of 1798 
without vitiating the prophecy in the least degree. The sun 
and moon were darkened together in 1780, eighteen years be- 
fore the days ended; the stars fell in 1833, thirty-five years 
after the end of the days. We have now reached a date 
more than one hundred years this side the ending of the days, 
and the shaking of the powers of heaven will be completed 
not far hence, as other prophecies show ; and in immediate con- 
nection with that, as Joel and John plainly declare, the com- 
ing of the Lord is to take place. 

If the objector still insists that according to our application 
the stars should have fallen before 1798, because the prophecy 
says, "And the stars of heaven shall fall," we reply that then 
all the other events should also have taken place before 1798 ; 
for they are all connected in the same way. But this we have 
shown to be impossible. 

And the Heaven Departed as a Scroll. — In this event our 
minds are turned to the future. From looking at the past, 
and beholding the word of God fulfilled, we are now called 
to look at events in the future, which are no less sure to come. 
Here is our position, unmistakably defined. We stand between 
the 13th and 14th verses of this chapter. We wait for the 
heavens to depart as a scroll when it is rolled together. And 
these are times of unparalleled solemnity and importance ; 
for we know not how near we may be to the fulfilment of 
these things. 

This departing of the heavens is included in what the evan- 
gelists call, in the same series of events, the shaking of the 
powers of the heavens. Other scriptures give us further par- 
ticulars concerning this prediction. From Heb. 12:25 -27; 



CHAPTER 6, VERSES 12 - 17 



517 



Joel 3:16; Jer. 25:30 - 33; Rev. 16 : 17, we learn that it is 
the voice of God, as he speaks in* terrible majesty from his 
throne in heaven, that causes this fearful commotion in earth 
and sky. Once the Lord spoke, when with an audible voice 
he declared to his creatures the precepts of his eternal law, 
and the earth shook. He is to speak again, and not only the 
earth will shake, but the heavens also. Then will the earth 
"reel to and fro like a drunkard;" it will be "dissolved" 
and " utterly broken down " (Isaiah 24) ; mountains will move 
from their firm bases; islands will suddenly change their lo- 
cation in the midst of the sea; from the level plain will arise 
the precipitous mountain ; rocks will thrust up their ragged 
forms from earth's broken surface ; and while the voice of God 
is reverberating through the earth, the direst confusion will 
reign over the face of nature. 

To show that this is no mere conception of the imagina- 
tion, the reader is requested to mark the exact phraseology 
which some of the prophets have used in reference to this time. 
Isaiah (24: 19, 20) says: " The earth is utterly broken down, 
the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. 
The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be 
removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be 
heavy upon it ; and it shall fall, and not rise again." Jere- 
miah (4:23 - 27) in thrilling language describes the scene as 
follows : " I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, 
and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld 
the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved 
lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the 
birds of the heavens were fled. . . . For thus hath the Lord 
said, The whole land shall be desolate." (See also the 
scriptures referred to above.) 

Then will the world's dream of carnal security be effect- 
ually broken. Kings, who, intoxicated with their own earthly 
authority, have never dreamed of a higher power than them- 
selves, now realize that there is One who reigns King of kings ; 
and the great men behold the vanity of all earthly pomp, for 
there is a greatness above that of earth; and the rich men 
throw their silver and gold to the moles and bats, for it cannot 



518 



THE REVELATION 



save them in 'that day ; and the chief captains forget their little 
brief authority, and the mighty men their might ; and every 
bondman who is in the still worse bondage of sin, and every 
freeman, — all classes of the wicked, from the highest to the 
lowest, — join in the general wail of consternation and de- 
spair. They who never prayed to Him whose arm could 
bring salvation, now raise an agonizing prayer to rocks and 
mountains to bury them forever from the sight of Him whose 
presence brings to them destruction. Fain would they now 
avoid reaping what they have sown by a life of lust and sin. 
Fain would they now shun the fearful treasure of wrath which 
they have been heaping up for themselves against this day. 
Fain would they bury themselves and their catalogue of crimes 
in everlasting darkness. And so they fly to the rocks, caves, 
caverns, and fissures, which the broken surface of the earth 
now presents before them. But it is too late. They cannot 
conceal their guilt, nor escape the long-delayed vengeance. 

" It will be in vain to call, 
Rocks and mountains on us fall; 
For His hand will find out all, 
In that day." 

The day which they thought never would come, has at last 
taken them as in a snare ; and the involuntary language of their 
anguished hearts is, " The great day of his wrath is come, and 
who shall be able to stand ? " Before it is called out by the 
fearful scenes of this time, we pray you, reader, give your 
most serious and candid attention to this subject. 

Many now affect to despise the institution of prayer; but 
at one time or another all men will pray. Those who will not 
now pray to God in penitence, will then pray to the rocks and 
mountains in despair ; and this will be the largest prayer-meet- 
ing ever held. As you read these lines, think whether you 
would like to have a part therein : — 

Ah! better far 
To cease the unequal war, 
"While pardon, hope, and peace may yet be found; 
Nor longer rush upon the embossed shield 
Of the Almighty, but repentant yield, 



CHAPTER 6, VERSES 12 - 17 



519 



And all your weapons of rebellion ground. 

Better pray now in love, than pray ere long in fear. 

Call ye upon him, while he waits to hear; 

So in the coming end, 
When down the parted sky 

The angelic hosts attend 

The Lord of heaven, most high, 
Before whose face the solid earth is rent, 
You may behold in him a friend omnipotent, 
And safely rest beneath his sheltering wings, 
Amid the ruin of all earthly things. 




33 



CHAPTEE VII. 



Verse 1. And after these things I saw four angels standing on the 
four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that 
the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. 
2. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal 
of the living God : and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, 
to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, 3. Saying, Hurt 
not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the 
servants of our God in their foreheads. 

THE chronology of the work here introduced is established 
beyond mistake. The sixth chapter closed with the events 
of the sixth seal, and the seventh seal is not mentioned 
until we reach the opening of chapter 8. The whole of chap- 
ter 7 is therefore thrown in here parenthetically. Why is it 
thus thrown in at this point ? - — ■ Evidently for the purpose of 
stating additional particulars concerning the sixth seal. The 
expression, " after these things," does not mean after the ful- 
filment of all the events previously described; but after the 
prophet had been carried down in vision to the close of the 
sixth seal, in order not to break the consecutive order of events 
as giA r en in chapter 6, his mind is called to what is mentioned 
in chapter 7, as further particulars to transpire in connection 
with that seal. Then Ave inquire, Between what events in that 
seal does this work come in ? It must transpire before the 
departing of the heavens as a scroll; for after that event there 
is no place for such a work as this. And it must take place 
subsequently to the signs in the sun, moon, and stars ; for 
(520) 1 



CHAPTER 1, VERSES 1 - 8 



521 



these signs have been fulfilled, and such a work has not yet 
been accomplished. It comes in, therefore, between the 13th 
and 14th verses of Revelation 6 ; but there, as already shown, 
is just where we now stand. Hence the first part of Reve- 
lation 7 relates to a work the accomplishment of which may 
be looked for at the present time. 

Four Angels. — Angels are ever-present agents in the affairs 
of the earth; and why may not these.be four of those heavenly 
beings into whose hands God has committed the work here 
described; namely, holding the winds while it is God's pur- 
pose that they should not blow, and hurting the earth with 
them when the time comes that they should be loosed? For 
it will be noticed (verse 3) that the " hurting " is a work 
committed to their hands equally with the " holding ; " so that 
they do not merely let the winds go when they are to blow, 
but they cause them to blow; they impel forward the work 
of destruction with their own supernatural energy. But the 
hurting process here brought to view does not include the 
seven last plagues. That work is given into the hands of 
seven special angels; this, into the hands of four. Or, it 
may be that when the time comes for the pouring out of the 
plagues, the seven angels who have specific charge of these 
judgments, unite with the four whose mission it is to cause 
the winds to blow, and all together bring on that pre-eminent 
exhibition of divine vengeance against a generation which is 
pre-eminent in guilt. 

Four Corners of the Earth. — An expression denoting the 
four quarters, or the four points of the compass, and signi- 
fying that these angels, in their particular sphere, had charge 
of the whole earth. 

The Four Winds. — ■ Winds, in the Bible, symbolize political 
commotion, strife, and war. Dan. 7:2; Jer. 25 : 32. The 
four winds, held by four angels standing in the four quarters 
of the earth, must denote all the elements of strife and commo- 
tion that exist in the world; and when they are all loosed, and 
all blow together, it will constitute the great whirlwind just 
referred to in the prophecy of Jeremiah. 



522 



THE REVELATION 



The Angel Ascending from the East. — Another literal 
angel, having charge of another specific work, is here intro- 
duced. Instead of the words " ascending from the east/' 
some translations read, " Ascending from the sun rising," 
which is a more literal translation. The expression evidently 
refers to manner rather than locality; for as the sun arises 
with rays at first oblique and. comparatively powerless, but 
increases in strength until it shines in all its meridian power 
and splendor, so the work of this angel commences in weak- 
ness, moves onward with ever- accumulating influence, and 
closes in strength and power. 

The Seal of the Living God. — This is the distinguishing 
characteristic of the ascending angel; he bears with him the 
seal of the living God. From this fact, and the chronology of 
his work, we are to determine, if possible, what movement is 
symbolized by his mission. The nature of his work is evi- 
dently embraced in his having the seal of the living God; 
and to ascertain what his work is, the inquiry must be an- 
swered what this seal of the living God is, which he bears 
with him. 

1. The Term Seal Defined. — A seal is defined to be an 
instrument of sealing ; that which " is used by individuals, cor- 
porate bodies, and states, for making impressions on wax, upon 
instruments of writing, as an evidence of their authenticity/' 
The original word in this passage is defined, "A seal, i. e., a 
signet ring; a mark, stamp, badge; a token, a pledge." Among 
the significations of the verb are the following: " To secure to 
any one, to make sure; to set a seal or mark upon anything 
in token of its being genuine or approved; to attest, to con- 
firm, to establish, to distinguish by a mark." By a compari- 
son of Gen. 17: 11 with Rom. 4: 11, and Rev. 7 : 3 with Eze. 
9:4, in connection with the above definition, the reader will 
see that the words token, sign, seal, and mark are used in the 
Bible as synonymous terms. The seal of God, as brought to 
view in our text, is to be applied to the servants of God. We 
are not, of course, to suppose that in this case it is some literal 
mark to be made in the flesh, but that it is some institution 
or observance having special reference to God, which will serve 



CHAPTER 7, VERSES 1 - 3 



523 



as a " mark of distinction " between the worshipers of God 
and those who are not in truth his servants, though they may 
profess to follow him. 

2. The Use of a Seal. — A seal is used to render valid or 
authentic any enactments, or laws, which a person or power 
may promulgate. Frequent instances of its use occur in the 
Scriptures. In 1 Kings 21:8, we read that Jezebel " wrote 
letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal." These 
letters then had all the authority of King Ahab. Again, in 
Esther 3 : 12 : " In the name of King Ahasuerus was it writ- 
ten, and sealed with the king's ring." So also in chapter 8:8: 
" The writing which is written in the king's name, and sealed 
with the king's ring, may no man reverse." 

3. Where a Seal is Used. — Always in connection with some 
law or enactment that demands obedience, or upon documents 
that are to be made legal, or subject to the provisions of law. 
The idea of law is inseparable from a seal. 

4. As Applied to God. — We are not to suppose that to 
the enactments and laws of God binding upon men, there must 
be attached a literal seal, made with literal instruments; but 
from the definition of the term, and the purpose for which a 
seal is used, as shown above, we must understand a seal to be 
strictly that which gives validity and authenticity to enactments 
and laws. This is found, though a literal seal may not be 
used, in the name or signature of the law-making power, ex- 
pressed in such terms as to show what the power is, and its 
right to make laws and demand obedience. Even with a lit- 
eral seal, the name must always be used. (See the references 
above given.) An instance of the use of the name alone 
seems to occur in Dan. 6:8: " Now, O king, establish the 
decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, accord- 
ing to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not ; " 
that is, affix the signature of royalty, showing who it is that 
demands obedience, and his right to demand it. 

In a gospel prophecy found in Isaiah 8, we read : " Bind 
up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples." This 
must refer to a work of reviving in the minds of the disciples 
some of the claims of the law which had been overlooked, 



524 



THE REVELATION 



or perverted from their true meaning. And this, in the proph- 
ecy, is called sealing the law, or restoring to it its seal, which 
had been taken from it. 

Again, the 144,000, who in the chapter before ns are said 
to be sealed with the seal of God in their foreheads, are again 
brought to view in Rev. 14 : 1, where they are said to have 
the Father's name written in their foreheads. 

From the foregoing reasoning, facts, and declarations of 
Scripture, two conclusions inevitably follow: — 

1. The seal of God is found in connection with the law 
of God. 

2. The seal of God is that part of his law which contains 
his name, or descriptive title, showing who he is, the extent 
of his dominion, and his right to rule. 

The law of God is admitted by all the leading evangelical 
denominations to be summarily contained in the decalogue, or 
ten commandments. We have, then, but to examine these 
commandments to see which one it is that constitutes the seal 
of the law, or, in other words, makes known the true God, 
the law-making power. The first three commandments men- 
tion the Avord God; but we cannot tell from these who is 
meant, for there are multitudes of objects to which this name 
is applied. There are " gods many and lords many," as the 
apostle says. 1 Cor. 8 : 5. Passing over the fourth com- 
mandment for the time being, the fifth contains the words 
Lord and God, but does not define them ; and the remaining 
five precepts do not contain the name of God at all. IsTow 
what shall be done ? With that portion of the law which 
we have examined, it would be impossible to convict the gross- 
est idolater of sin. The worshiper of images could say, This 
idol before me is my god ; his name is god, and these are his 
precepts. The worshiper of the heavenly bodies could also 
say, The sun is my god, and I worship him according to this 
law. Thus, without the fourth commandment, the decalogue 
is null and void, so far as it pertains to enforcing the worship 
of the true God. But let us now add the fourth command- 
ment, restore to the law this precept, which many are ready 
to contend has been expunged, and see how the case will then 



CHAPTER 7, VERSES 1 - 3 



525 



stand. As we examine this commandment, which contains the 
declaration, " For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, 
the sea, and all that in them is," etc., we see at once that we 
are reading the requirements of Him who created all things. 
The sun, then, is not the God of the decalogue; the true God 
is he who made the sun. ~No object in heaven or earth is 
the being who here demands obedience; for the God of this 
law is the one who made all created things. NTow we have 
a weapon against idolatry. Now this law can no longer be 
applied to false gods, who " have not made the heavens and 
the earth." Jer. 10:11. l^ow the author of this law has 
declared who he is, the extent of his dominion, and his right 
to rule; for every created intelligence must at once assent that 
He who is the Creator of all, has a right to demand obedi- 
ence from all his creatures.- Thus with the fourth command- 
ment in its place, this wonderful document, the decalogue, the 
only document among men which God ever wrote with his own 
finger, has a signature ; it has that which renders it intelligible 
and authentic; it has a seal. But without the fourth com- 
mandment, it lacks all these things. 

From the foregoing reasoning, it is evident that the fourth 
commandment constitutes the seal of the law of God, or the 
seal of God. But the Scriptures do not leave us without di- 
rect testimony on this point. 

We have seen above that in Scripture usage, sign, seal, 
token, and mark are synonymous terms. Now, the Lord ex- 
pressly says that the Sabbath is a sign between him and his 
people. " Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep ; for it is a sign 
between me and you throughout your generations ; that ye may 
know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you." Ex. 31 : 13. 
The same fact is again stated by the prophet Ezekiel, chapter 
20: 12, 20. Here the Lord told his people that the very object 
of their keeping the Sabbath, that is, observing the fourth 
commandment, was that they might know that he was the true 
God. This is the same as if the Lord had said, " The Sab- 
bath is a seal. On my part it is the seal of my authority, 
the sign that I have the right to command obedience ; on your 
part it is a token that you take me to be your God." 



526 



THE REVELATION 



Should it be said that this principle can have no applica- 
tian to Christians at the present time, as the Sabbath was a 
sign between God and the Jews only, it would be sufficient to 
reply that the terms Jew and Israel, in a true Scriptural 
sense, are not confined to the literal seed of Abraham. Abra- 
ham was chosen at first because he was the friend of God 
while his fathers were idolaters; and his seed were chosen to 
be God's people, the guardians of his law and the depositaries 
of his truth, because all others had apostatized from him; and 
it is true that these words respecting the Sabbath were spoken 
to them while they enjoyed the honor of being thus set apart 
from all others. But when the middle wall of partition was 
broken down, and the Gentiles were called in to be partakers 
of the blessings of Abraham, all God's people, both Jews and 
Gentiles, were brought into a new and more intimate relation 
to God through his Son, and they are now called " Jews in- 
wardly " and " Israelites indeed." And now the declaration 
applies to all such; for they have as much occasion to know 
the Lord as had his people of old. 

Thus the fourth commandment, or the Sabbath, is taken 
by the Lord as a sign between him and his people, or the seal 
of his law in both dispensations ; the people by that command- 
ment signifying that they are the worshipers of the true God, 
and God, by the same commandment, making himself known 
as their rightful ruler, inasmuch as he is their Creator. 

In harmony with this idea, the significant fact is to be 
noticed that whenever the sacred writers wish to point out the 
true God in distinction from false gods of every description, 
an appeal is made to the great facts of creation, upon which 
the fourth commandment is based. (See 2 Kings 19:15; 
2 Chron. 2:12; ^eh. 9:6; Ps. 115:4-7, 15; 121:2; 124: 
8; 134:3; 146:6; Isa. 37:16; 42:5; 44:24; 45:12; Job 
9:8; Isa. 51:13; Jer. 10:10-12; Ps. 96:5; Jer. 32:17; 
51:15; Acts 4:24; 14:15; 17:23, 24, etc.) 

We refer again to the fact that the same company who in 
Revelation 7 have the seal of the living God in their foreheads, 
are brought to view again in Rev. 14:1, having the Father's 
name in their foreheads. This is good proof that the a seal of 



CHAPTER 7, VERSES 1 - 3 



527 



the living God " and the " Father's name " are nsed synony- 
mously. The chain of evidence on this point is rendered com- 
plete, when it is ascertained that the fourth commandment, 
which has been shown to be the seal of the law, is spoken of 
by the Lord as that which contains his name. The proof of 
this will be seen by referring to Deut. 16:6: " But at the 
place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name 
in, there shalt thou sacrifice the passover/' etc. What was 
there where they sacrificed the passover ? — There was the 
sanctuary, having in its holiest apartment the ark with the ten 
commandments, the fourth of which declared the true God, 
and contained his name. Wherever this fourth command- 
ment was, there God's name was placed; and this was the 
only object to which the language could be applied. (See 
Deut. 12:5, 11, 21; 14:23, 24, etc. 

Having now ascertained that the seal of God is his holy 
Sabbath, having his name, we are prepared to proceed with 
the application. By the scenes introduced in the verses before 
us, namely, the four winds apparently about to blow, bring- 
ing war and trouble upon the land, and this work restrained 
till the servants of God should be sealed, as though a prepara- 
tory work must be done for them to save them from this trouble, 
we are reminded of the houses of the Israelites marked with 
the blood of the paschal lamb, and spared as the destroying 
angel passed over to slay the first-born of the Egyptians (Exo- 
dus 12) ; also of the mark made by the man with a writer's 
ink-horn (Ezekiel 9) upon all those who were to be spared by 
the men with the slaughtering weapons who followed after ; 
and we conclude that the seal of God, here placed upon his 
servants, is some distinguishing mark, or religious character- 
istic, through which they will be exempted from the judgments 
of God that fall on the wicked around them. 

As we have found the seal of God in the fourth command- 
ment, the inquiry follows, Does the observance of that com- 
mandment involve any peculiarity in religious practice ? — Yes, 
a very marked and striking one. It is one of the most singular 
facts to be met with in religious history that, in an age of such 
boasted gospel light as the present, when the influence of Chris- 



528 



THE REVELATION 



tianity is so powerful and wide-spread, one of the most striking 
peculiarities in practice which a person can adopt, and one 
of the greatest crosses he can take up, even in the most en- 
lightened and Christian lands, is the simple observance of the 
law of God. For the fourth commandment requires the ob- 
servance of the seventh day of each week as the Sabbath of the 
Lord; but almost all Christendom, through the combined influ- 
ences of paganism and the papacy, have been beguiled into 
the keeping of the first day. A person has but to commence 
the observance of the day enjoined in the commandment, and 
a mark of peculiarity is upon him at once. He is distinct 
alike from the professedly religious world and the unconverted 
world. 

We conclude, then, that the angel ascending from the east, 
having the seal of the living God, is a divine messenger in 
charge of a work of reform to be carried on among men in 
reference to the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. The 
agents of this work on the earth are of course ministers of 
Christ; for to men is given the commission of instructing their 
fellow men in Bible truth ; but as there is order in the execu- 
tion of all the divine counsels, it seems not improbable that a 
literal angel may have the charge and oversight of this work. 

We have already noticed the chronology of this work as 
locating it in our own time. This is further evident from the 
fact that, as the next event after the sealing of these servants 
of God, we behold them before the throne, with palms of vic- 
tory in their hands. The sealing is therefore the last work 
to be accomplished for them prior to their redemption. 

In Revelation 14 we find the same work again brought to 
view under the symbol of an angel flying in the midst of 
heaven with the most terrific warning that ever fell upon the 
ears of men. We shall speak of this more fully when we 
reach that chapter. We refer to it now, as it is the last work 
to be accomplished for the world before the coming of Christ, 
which is the next event in order in that prophecy, and hence 
must synchronize with the work here brought to view in Rev. 
7:1-3. The angel with the seal of the living God, mentioned 
in chapter 7, is therefore the same as the third angel of chapter 



CHAPTER 7, VERSES 1 - 3 



529 



14. And this view strengthens the foregoing exposition of the 
seal. For while, as the result of the work in chapter 7, a 
certain company are sealed with the seal of the living God, 
as the result of the third message of chapter 14 a company 
are brought out rendering Scriptural obedience to all the " com- 
mandments of God." Verse 12. But, excepting the fourth, 
there is no commandment of the decalogue upon which the 
Christian world theoretically needs reforming; and that this 
is the representative question in this message is evident from 
the fact that the keeping of the commandments, observing, with 
all the other moral precepts, the Lord's Sabbath, is what dis- 
tinguishes the servants of God from those who worship the 
beast and receive his mark, which is, as will be hereafter shown, 
the observance of a counterfeit sabbath. 

Having thus briefly noticed the main points of the subject, 
we now come to the most striking feature of all. In exact 
accordance with the foregoing chronological argument, we find 
this work already in process of fulfilment before our eyes. The 
third angel's message is going forth ; the angel ascending from 
the east is on his mission; the reform on the Sabbath question 
has commenced ; it is surely, though yet in comparative silence, 
working its way through the land; it is destined to agitate 
every country entitled to the light of the gospel ; and it will 
result in bringing out a people prepared for the soon coming of 
the Saviour, and sealed for his everlasting kingdom. 

With one more question we leave these verses, upon which 
we have so lengthily dwelt. Have we seen among the nations 
any movements which would indicate that the cry of the as- 
cending angel, " Hurt not," etc., by the blowing of the winds, 
" till we have sealed the servants of our God," has in any 
manner been answered ? The time during which the winds 
are held could not, from the nature of the case, be a time of 
profound peace. This would not answer to the prophecy. 
For in order to make it manifest that the winds are being 
held, there must be disturbance, agitation, anger, and jeal- 
ousy among the nations, with an occasional outburst of strife, 
like a fitful gust breaking away from the imprisoned and 
struggling tempest; and these outbursts must be suddenly and 



530 



THE REVELATION 



unexpectedly checked. Then, but not otherwise, would it be 
evident to him who looked at events in the light of prophecy, 
that for some good purpose the restraining hand of Omnipo- 
tence was laid upon the surging elements of strife and war. 
And such has been the aspect of our times for nearly half a 
century. Commencing with the great revolution of 1848, 
when so many European thrones toppled into the dust, what 
a state of anger and political unrest has existed among all the 
nations of the earth ! ~New and unlooked-for complications 
have suddenly sprung up, throwing matters into apparently in- 
extricable confusion, and threatening immediate and direful 
war. And now and then the conflict has burst forth in fury, 
and a thousand voices have been raised to predict that the 
great crisis had come, that universal war must result, and the 
termination no man could foretell, when suddenly and unac- 
countably it has been extinguished, and all subsided into quiet 
again. 

In our own land the terrible civil war of 1861 to 1865 is 
a notable instance. By the spring of the latter year, so great 
had become the pressure upon the nation for men and means 
to continue the war that it began seriously to impede the prog- 
ress of the work symbolized by the ascending angel, even threat- 
ening to arrest it entirely. Those interested in these truths, 
believing that the time had come for the application of the 
prophecy, and that the words of the angel, " Hurt not," etc., 
indicated a movement on the part of the church, accordingly 
raised their petitions to the Ruler of nations to restrain the 
cruel work of tumult and war. Days of fasting and prayer 
were set apart for this purpose. The time at which this oc- 
curred was a dark and gloomy period of the war; and not a 
few high in political life predicted its indefinite continuance, 
and an appalling intensity of all its evils. But suddenly a 
change came ; and not three months had elapsed from the time 
of which we speak, ere the last army of the Southern Con- 
federacy had surrendered, and all its soldiers had laid down 
their arms. So sudden and entire was the collapse, and so 
grateful were all hearts for relief from the pressure of the 
terrible strife, that the nation broke forth into a song of jubi- 



CHAPTER 7, VERSES 1 - 8 



531 



lee, and these words were conspicuously displayed at the na- 
tional capital: "This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in 
our eyes." There are those who believe there was a definite 
cause for this sudden cessation of the strife, of which, of 
course, the world is but little aware. The sudden conclusion 
of the Franco-German war of 1870, of the war between Turkey 
and Eussia in 1877 - 78, the Spanish- American war in 1896, 
and the recent war between Russia and Japan, may be cited 
as still later examples. 

Verse 4. And I heard the number of them which were sealed : 
and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all 
the tribes of the children of Israel. 5. Of the tribe of Juda were 
sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve 
thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand. 6. Of 
the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nep- 
thalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were 
sealed twelve thousand. 7. Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve 
thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of 
the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand. 8. Of the tribe 
of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph 
were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed 
twelve thousand. 

The number sealed is here stated to be one nundred and 
forty-four thousand; and from the fact that twelve thousand 
are sealed from each of the twelve tribes, many suppose that 
this work must have been accomplished as far back at least 
as about the beginning of the Christian era, when these tribes 
were literally in existence. They do not see how it can apply 
to our own time, when every trace of distinction between these 
tribes has been so long and so completely obliterated. We 
refer such persons to the opening language of the Epistle of 
James : " J ames, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus 
Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greet- 
ing. My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers 
temptations," etc. Those whom James here addresses are 
(1) Christians; for they are his brethren; (2) They are not 
the converts to Christianity from the Jews, the twelve tribes 
of his own day: for he addresses them in view of the coming 
of the Lord. (See chapter 5.) He is thus addressing the 
last generation of Christians, the Christians of our own day, 



532 



THE REVELATION 



and he calls them the twelve tribes scattered abroad. How 
can this be? Panl explains in Rom. 11:17 -24. In the 
striking figure of grafting which he there introduces, the tame 
olive tree represents Israel. Some of the branches, the natural 
descendants of Abraham, were broken off because of unbelief 
(in Christ). Through faith in Christ the wild olive scions, 
the Gentiles, are grafted into the tame olive stock, and thus 
the twelve tribes are perpetuated. And here we find an ex- 
planation of the language of the same apostle : " They are 
not all Israel which are of Israel," and " he is not a Jew 
which is one outwardly, . . . but he is a Jew which is one 
inwardly." Rom. 9 : 6 - 8 ; 2 : 28, 29. So we find on the 
gates of the New Jerusalem — which is a New Testament or 
Christian, not a J ewish, city — the names of the twelve tribes 
of the children of Israel. On the foundations of this city 
are inscribed the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, 
and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. 
Rev. 21 : 12 - 14. If the twelve tribes belong exclusively to 
the former dispensation, the more natural order would have 
been to have their names on the foundations, and those of the 
twelve apostles on the gates; but no, the names of the twelve 
tribes are on the gates. And. as through these gates, so in- 
scribed, all the redeemed hosts will go in and out, so, as be- 
longing to these twelve tribes, will all the redeemed be reckoned, 
whether on earth they were Jews or Gentiles. Of course we 
look in vain for any marks of distinction between the tribes 
here on earth ; and since Christ has appeared in the flesh, the 
preservation of the genealogy of the tribes is not necessary. 
But in heaven, where the names of the church of the first- 
born are being enrolled, we may be sure there is order, and 
that each name is enrolled in its own tribe. Heb. 12 : 23. 

It will be observed that the enumeration of the tribes here 
differs from that given in other places. The twelve sons of 
Jacob, who became the heads of great families, called tribes, 
were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Ben- 
jamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, and Joseph. But Jacob, 
on his dying bed, adopted the sons of Joseph, Ephraim and 
Manasseh, to constitute two of the tribes of Israel. Gen. 



CHAPTER 7, VERSES k - 12 



533 



48 : 5. This divided the tribe of Joseph, making thirteen 
tribes in all. Yet in the distribution of the land of Canaan 
by lot, they numbered but twelve tribes, and made but twelve 
lots ; for the tribe of Levi was left out, being appointed to the 
service of the tabernacle, and having no inheritance. But in 
the passage before us, Ephraim and Dan are omitted, and 
Levi and Joseph put in their places. The omission of Dan 
is accounted for by commentators on the ground that that tribe 
was the one chiefly addicted to idolatry. (See Judges 18, 
etc.) The tribe of Levi here takes its place with the rest, 
as in the heavenly Canaan the reasons for their not having 
an inheritance will not exist, as in the earthly; and Joseph is 
probably put for Ephraim, it being a name which appears to 
have been applied to either the tribe of Ephraim or ALanasseh. 
Xum. 13 : 11. 

Twelve thousand were sealed " out of " each of the twelve 
tribes, showing that not all who in the records of heaven had 
a place among these tribes when this sealing work commenced, 
stood the test, and were overcomers at last ; for the names of 
those already in the book of life will be blotted out, unless they 
overcome. Rev. 3:5. 

Verse 9. After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which 
no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and 
tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with 
white robes, and palms in their hands; 10. And cried with a loud 
voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, 
and unto the Lamb. 11. And all the angels stood round about the 
throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the 
throne on their faces, and worshiped God, 12. Saying, Amen: Bless- 
ing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, 
and might, be unto our God forever and ever. Amen. 

The sealing having been accomplished, John beholds a 
countless multitude worshiping God in rapture before his 
throne. This vast throng are undoubtedly the saved out of 
every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue, raised from the dead 
at the second coming of Christ, showing that the sealing is 
the last work accomplished for the people of God prior to 
translation. 

Verse 13. And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What 
are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? 



534 



THE REVELATION 



14. And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, 
These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed 
their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15. 
Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and 
night in his temple; and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell 
among them. 16. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any 
more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. 17. For 
the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and 
shall lead them unto living fountains of waters : and God shall wipe 
away all tears from their eyes. 

The questions proposed by one of the elders to John, " What 
are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came 
they ? " taken in connection with John's answer, " Sir, thou 
knowest," implying that John did not know, would seem to be 
devoid of all point, if they had reference to the whole of the 
great multitude now before him. For John did know who 
they were, and from whence they came; inasmuch as he had 
just said that they were people — redeemed of course — out of 
all nations, kindreds, people, and tongues; and John could 
have answered, These are the redeemed ones from all the na- 
tions of the earth. But if a special company in this vast 
throng w r ere referred to, distinguished by some special mark 
or position, then it might not be so evident who they were, 
and what had given them their peculiarity; and the questions, 
as applied to them, would be appropriate and pertinent. We 
therefore incline to the view that attention is called to a spe- 
cial company by the questions which were proposed by one of 
the elders ; and no company is brought to view to which special 
allusion would more naturally be made than to the company 
spoken of in the first part of the chapter ; namely, the 144,000. 
John had indeed seen this company in their mortal state, as 
they were receiving the seal of the living God amid the troub- 
lous scenes of the last clays; but as they here stand among 
the redeemed throng, the transition is so great, and the con- 
dition in which they now appear so different, that he does not 
recognize them as the special company which he saw sealed 
upon the earth. And to this company, the specifications that 
follow seem to be specially applicable. 

1. They Came out of Great Tribulation. — While it is true 
in some degree of all Christians that they must " through much 



CHAPTER 7, VERSES 13-17 



535 



tribulation enter into the kingdom of God," it is true in a very 
emphatic sense of the 144,000. They pass through the great 
time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation. 
Dan. 12:1. They experience the mental anguish of the time 
of J acob's trouble. Jer. 30:4-7. They stand without a me- 
diator through the terrific scenes of the seven last plagues, those 
exhibitions of God's unmingled wrath in the earth. Revela- 
tion, chapters 15, 16. They pass through the severest time of 
trouble the world has. ever known, although they are delivered 
out of it. 

2. White Robes. — They wash their robes and make them 
white in the blood of the Lamb. To the last generation the 
testimony is very emphatic on the subject ot obtaining the 
white raiment. Rev. 3 : 5, 18. And though the 144,000 are 
accused of rejecting Christ, and trusting to their own works 
for salvation, because they refuse to violate the commandments 
of God (Rev. 14: 1, 12), in the great day that calumny will 
be wiped off. It will be seen that they have rested their hope 
of life on the merits of the shed blood of their divine Re- 
deemer, making him their source of righteousness. There is 
peculiar force in saying of these that they have washed their 
robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 

3. The First-fruits. — Verse 15 describes the post of honor 
they occupy in the kingdom, and their nearness to God. In 
another place they are called " the first-fruits unto God and 
the Lamb." Rev. 14: 4. 

4. They Shall Hunger No More. — In verse 16 it is said, 
" They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more." This 
shows that they have once suffered hunger and thirst, To 
what can this refer ? As it doubtless has reference to some 
special experience, may it not refer to their trials in the time 
of. trouble, more especially during the last plagues ? In this 
time the righteous will be reduced to bread and water; and 
though that "will be sure" (Isa. 33:16), enough for suste- 
nance, yet may it not be that when. the pastures, with all fruits 
and vegetation, are dried up (Joel 1:18-20), and the rivers 
and fountains are turned to blood (Rev. 16:4-9), to reduce 
their connection with earth and earthly things to the lowest 

34 



536 



THE REVELATION 



limit, the saints who pass through that time will be brought oc- 
casionally to the extreme degrees of hunger and thirst ? But 
the kingdom once gained, " they shall hunger no more, neither 
thirst any more." And the prophet continues in reference to 
this company, " Neither shall the sun light on them, nor any 
heat." We remember that the 144,000 live through the time 
when power is given unto the sun " to scorch men with fire." 
Rev. 16:8, 9. And though they are shielded from the deadly 
effect which it has upon the wicked around them, we cannot 
suppose that their sensibilities will be so deadened that they 
will feel no unpleasant sensations from the terrific heat. No; 
as they enter the fields of the heavenly Canaan, they will be 
prepared to appreciate the divine assurance that the sun shall 
not light upon or injure them, nor any heat. 

5. And the Lamb Shall Lead Them. — Another testimony - 
concerning the same company, and applying at the same time, 
says, " These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever 
he goeth." Rev. 14:4. Both expressions denote the state 
of intimate and divine companionship to which the blessed 
Redeemer admits them in reference to himself. 

The psalmist, in the following beautiful passage, seems to 
allude to the same promise : " They shall be abundantly satis- 
fied with the fatness of thy house ; and thou shalt make them 
drink of the river of thy pleasures." Ps. 36:8. The phrase- 
ology of this promise to the 144,000 is also partially found in 
the following glowing prophecy from the pen of Isaiah : " He 
will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe 
away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people 
shall he take away from off all the earth; for the Lord hath 
spoken it." Isa. 25:8. 



WE name as the subject of this chapter the seven trum- 
pets, as these constitute the main theme of the chap- 
ter, although there are other matters introduced 
before the opening of that series of events. The first verse 
of this chapter relates to the events of the preceding chapters, 
and therefore should not have been separated from them by 
the division of the chapter. 

Verse 1. And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was 
silence in heaven abont the space of half an hour. 

The series of seven seals is here resumed and concluded. 
The sixth chapter closed with the events of the sixth seal, and 
the eighth commences with the opening of the seventh seal; 
hence the seventh chapter stands parenthetically between the 
sixth and seventh seals, from which it appears that the sealing 
work of that chapter belongs to the sixth seal. 

Silence in Heaven. — Concerning the cause of this silence, 
only conjecture can be offered, — a conjecture, however, which 
is supported by the events of the sixth seal. That seal does 
not bring us to the second advent, although it embraces events 
that transpire in close connection therewith. It introduces the 
fearful commotions of the elements, described as the rolling of 
the heavens together as a scroll, caused by the voice of God, 
the breaking up of the surface of the earth, and the confession 
on the part of the wicked that the great day of God's wrath is 
come. Thev are doubtless in momentary expectation of seeing 

(537) 



538 



THE REVELATION 



the King appear in, to them, unendurable glory. But the seal 
stops just short of that event. The personal appearing of 
Christ must therefore be allotted to the next seal. But when 
the Lord appears, he comes with all the holy angels with 
him. Matt. 25:31. And when all the heavenly harpers 
leave the courts above to come down with their divine Lord, 
as he descends to gather the fruit of his redeeming work, will 
there not be silence in heaven ? 

The length of this period of silence, if we consider it pro- 
phetic time, would be about seven days. 

Verse 2. And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; 
and to them were given seven trumpets. 

This verse introduces a new and distinct series of events. 
In the seals we have had the history of the church during 
what is called the gospel dispensation. In the seven trum- 
pets, now introduced, we have the principal political and war- 
like events which were to transpire during the same time. 

Verse 3. And another angel came and stood at the altar, having 
a golden censer; and there was given nnto him much incense, that 
he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar 
which was before the throne. 4. And the smoke of the incense, which 
came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of 
the angel's hand. 5. And the angel took the censer, and filled it with 
fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth; and there were voices, 
and thnnderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake. 

Having as it were, in verse 2, brought out the seven angels, 
and introduced them before us upon the stage of action, John, 
for a moment, in the three verses last quoted, directs attention 
to an entirely different scene. The angel which approaches 
the altar is not one of the seven trumpet angels. The altar is 
the altar of incense, which, in the earthly sanctuary, was placed 
in the first apartment. Here, then, is another proof that there 
exists in heaven a sanctuary with its corresponding vessels of 
service, of which the earthly was a figure, and that we are 
taken into that sanctuary by the visions of John. A work of 
ministration for all the saints in the sanctuary above is thus 
brought to view. Doubtless the entire Avork of mediation for 
the people of God during the gospel dispensation is here pre- 



CHAPTER 8, VERSES S - 7 



539 



sented. This is apparent from the fact that the angel offers 
his incense with the prayers of all saints. And that we are 
here carried forward to the end, is evident from the act of 
the angel in filling the censer with fire and casting it unto the 
earth ; for his work is then done ; no more prayers are to be 
offered up mingled with incense ; and this symbolic act can 
have its application only at the time when the ministration of 
Christ in the sanctuary in behalf of mankind has forever ceased. 
And following the angel's act are voices, thunder ings, light- 
nings, and an earthquake, — exactly such occurrences as we 
are elsewhere informed transpire at the close of human pro- 
bation. (See Kev. 11:19; 16:17, 18.) 

But why are these verses thus thrown in here ? Answer : 
As a message of hope and comfort for the church. The seven 
angels with their warlike trumpets had been introduced; terri- 
ble scenes were to transpire under their sounding; but before 
they commence, the people of God are pointed to the work of 
mediation in their behalf above, and their source of help and 
strength during this time. Though they should be tossed like 
feathers upon the tumultuous waves of strife and war, they 
were to know that their great High Priest still ministered for 
them in the sanctuary in heaven, and that thither they could 
direct their prayers, and have them offered, with incense, to 
their Father in heaven. Thus could they gain strength and 
support in all their calamities. 

Verse G. And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets pre- 
pared themselves to sound. 

The subject of the seven trumpets is here resumed, and oc- 
cupies the remainder of this chapter and all of chapter 9. 
The seven angels prepare themselves to sound. Their sound- 
ing comes in as a complement to the prophecy of Daniel 2 
and 7, commencing with the breaking up of the old Roman 
empire into its ten divisions, of which, in the first four trum- 
pets, we have a description. 

Verse 7. The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire 
mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth : and the third 
part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. 



540 



THE REVELATION 



A full exposition of the seven trumpets is given in a work 
entitled, An Exposition of the Seven Trumpets of Revelation 
VIII and IX, for sale by the Southern Publishing Association, 
Nashville, Tenn., to which the reader is referred for a more 
extended examination of the subject. To that work we are 
chiefly indebted for the extracts given below. 

Mr. Keith has very justly remarked on the subject of this 
prophecy : — 

" None could elucidate the texts more clearly, or expound 
them more fully, than the task has been performed by Gibbon. 
The chapters of the skeptical philosopher that treat directly of 
the matter, need but a text to be prefixed, and a few unholy 
words to be blotted out, to form a series of expository lectures 
on the eighth and ninth chapters of Revelation." " Little or 
nothing is left for the professed interpreter to do but to point 
to the pages of Gibbon." 

The first sore and heavy judgment which fell on Western 
Rome in its downward course, was the war with the Goths 
under Alaric, who opened the way for later inroads. The 
death of Theodosius, the Roman emperor, occurred in J anuary, 
395, and before the end of the winter the Goths under Alaric 
were in arms against the empire. 

" Hail and fire mingled with blood " were cast upon the 
earth. The terrible effects of this Gothic invasion are repre- 
sented as " hail," from the fact of the northern origin of the 
invaders; " fire," from the destruction by flame of both city 
and country ; and " blood," from the terrible slaughter of the 
citizens of the empire by the bold and intrepid warriors. 

The blast of the first trumpet has its location about the 
close of the fourth century and onward, and refers to these 
desolating invasions of the Roman empire under the Goths. 

I know not how the history of the sounding of the first 
trumpet can be more impressively set forth than by presenting 
the graphic rehearsal of the facts which are stated in Gibbon's 
History, by Mr. Keith, in his Signs of the Times, Vol. I, 
pp. 221 - 233 :— 

" Large extracts show how amply and well Gibbon has ex- 
pounded his text in the history of the first trumpet, the first 



CHAPTER 8, VERSE 7 



511 



storm, that pervaded the Roman earth, and the first fall of 
Rome. To use his words in more direct comment, we read 
thus the sum of the matter : i The Gothic nation was in arms 
at the first sound of the trumpet, and in the uncommon sever- 
ity of the winter, they rolled their ponderous wagons over the 
broad and icy back of the river. The fertile fields of Phocis 
and Boeotia were crowded with a deluge of barbarians; the 
males were massacred; the females and cattle of the flaming 
villages were driven away. The deep and bloody traces of the. 
march of the Goths could easily be discovered after several 
years. The whole territory of Attica was blasted by the bane- 
ful presence of Alaric. The most fortunate of the inhabitants 
of Corinth, Argos, and Sparta were saved by death from be- 
ho]ding the conflagration of their cities. In a season of such 
extreme heat that the beds of the rivers were dry, Alaric in- 
vaded the dominion of the West. A secluded " old man of 
Verona," the poet Claudian, pathetically lamented the fate of 
his contemporary trees, which must blaze in the conflagration 
of the ichole country [note the words of the prophecy, — " The 
third part of the trees was burned up "~\ ; and the emperor of 
the Romans fled before the king of the Goths.' 

"A furious tempest was excited among the nations of Ger- 
many, from the northern extremity of which the barbarians 
marched almost to the gates of Rome. They achieved the 
destruction of the West. The dark cloud which was collected 
along the coasts of the Baltic, burst in thunder upon the banks 
of the upper Danube. The pastures of Gaul, in which flocks 
and herds grazed, and the banks of the Rhine, which were 
covered with elegant houses and well-cultivated farms, formed 
a scene of peace and plenty, which was suddenly changed into 
a desert, distinguished from the solitude of nature only by 
smoking ruins. Many cities were cruelly oppressed, or de- 
stroyed. Many thousands were inhumanly massacred ; and 
the consuming flames of Avar spread over the greater part of 
the seventeen provinces of Gaul. 

"Alaric again stretched his ravages over Italy. During 
four years the Goths ravaged and reigned over it without con- 
trol. And in the pillage and fire of Rome, the streets of the 



542 



THE REVELATION 



city were filled with dead bodies; the flames consumed many 
public and private buildings; and the ruins of a palace re- 
mained (after a century and a half) a stately monument of 
the Gothic conflagration. 

" The concluding sentence of the thirty-third chapter of 
Gibbon's History is of itself a clear and comprehensive com- 
mentary; for in winding up his own description of this brief 
but most eventful period, he concentrates, as in a parallel 
reading, the sum of the history and the substance of the pre- 
diction. But the words which precede it are not without their 
meaning: ' The public devotion of the age was impatient to 
exalt the saints and martyrs of the Catholic Church on the 
altars of Diana and Hercules. The union of the Roman em- 
pire was dissolved; its genius was humbled in the dust; and 
armies of unknown barbarians, issuing from the frozen regions 
of the North, had established their victorious reign over the 
fairest provinces of Europe and Africa. 7 

" The last word, Africa, is the signal for the sounding of 
the second trumpet. The scene changes from the shores of the 
Baltic to the southern coast of the Mediterranean, or from the 
frozen regions of the North to the borders of burning Africa; 
and instead of a storm of hail being cast upon the earth, a 
burning mountain was cast into the sea." 

Verse 8. And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great 
mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea : and the third part 
of the sea became blood; 9. And the third part of the creatures which 
were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships 
were destroyed. 

The Roman empire, after Constantine, was divided into 
three parts ; and hence the frequent remark, " a third part of 
men/' etc., in allusion to the third part of the empire which 
was under the scourge. This division of the Roman kingdom 
was made at the death of Constantine, among his three sons, 
Constantius, Constantine II, and Constans. Constantius pos- 
sessed the East, and fixed his residence at Constantinople, the 
metropolis of the empire. Constantine the Second held B 'itain, 
Gaul, and Spain. Constans held Illyricum, Africa, and Italy. 
(See. Sabine's Ecclesiastical History, p. 155.) Of this well- 



CHAPTER 8, VERSES 8, Q 



545 



known historical fact, Elliott, as quoted by Albert Barnes, in 
his notes on Rev. 12 : 4, says : " Twice, at least, before the 
Roman empire became divided permanently into the two parts, 
the Eastern and the Western, there was a tripartite division of 
the empire. The first occurred a. d. 311, when it was divided 
between Constantine, Licinius, and Maximin; the other, a. d. 
337, on the death of Constantine, when it was divided between 
his three sons, Constantine, Constans, and Constantius." 

The history illustrative of the sounding of the second trum- 
pet evidently relates to the invasion and conquest of Africa, 
and afterward of Italy, by the terrible Genseric. His con- 
quests were for the most part naval; and his triumphs were 
" as it were a great mountain . burning with fire, cast into the 
sea." What figure would better, or even so well, illustrate 
the collision of navies, and the general havoc of war on the 
maritime coasts ? In explaining this trumpet, we are to look 
for some events which will have a particular bearing on the 
commercial world. The symbol used naturally leads us to 
look for agitation and commotion. Nothing but a fierce mari- 
time warfare would fulfil the prediction. If the sounding of 
the first four trumpets relates to four remarkable events which 
contributed to the downfall of the Roman empire, and the first 
trumpet refers to the ravages of the Goths under Alaric, in 
this we naturally look for the next succeeding act of invasion 
which shook the Roman power and conduced to its fall. The 
next great invasion ivas that of " the terrible Genseric," at 
the head of the Vandals. His career occurred during the 
years a. d. 428 - 468. This great Vandal chief had his head- 
quarters in Africa. But as Gibbon states, " The discovery 
and conquest of the black nations [in Africa], that might 
dwell beneath the torrid zone, could not tempt the rational 
ambition of Genseric ; but he cast his eyes toward the sea ; 
he resolved to create a naval power, and his bold resolution 
was executed with steady and active perseverance." Erom the 
port of Carthage he repeatedly made piratical sallies, and 
preyed on the Roman commerce, and waged war with that 
empire. To cope with this sea monarch, the Roman emperor, 
Majorian, made extensive naval preparations. Three hun- 



546 



THE REVELATION 



dred long galleys, with an adequate proportion of transports 
and smaller vessels, were collected in the secure and capacious 
harbor of Cartagena, in Spain. But Genseric was saved from 
impending and inevitable ruin by the treachery of some pow- 
erful subjects, envious or apprehensive of their master's suc- 
cess. Guided by their secret intelligence, he surprised the 
unguarded fleet in the bay of Cartagena; many of the ships 
were sunk, taken, or burned, and the preparations of three 
years were destroyed in a single day. 

Italy continued to be long afflicted by the incessant depre- 
dations of the Vandal pirates. In the spring of each year they 
equipped a formidable navy in the port of Carthage, and Gen- 
seric himself, though at a very advanced age, still commanded 
in person the most important expeditions. 

The Vandals repeatedly visited the coasts of Spain, Liguria, 
Tuscany, Campania, Lucania, Bruttium, Apulia, Calabria, 
Venetia, Dalmatia, Epirus, Greece, and Sicily. 

The celerity of their motion enabled them, almost at the 
same time, to threaten and to attack the most distant objects 
which attracted their desires; and as they always embarked a 
sufficient number of horses, they had no sooner landed than 
they swept the dismayed country with a body of light cavalry. 

A last and desperate attempt to dispossess Genseric of the 
sovereignty of the seas, was made in the year 468 by Leo, 
the emperor of the East. Gibbon bears witness to this as 
follows : — 

" The whole expense of the African campaign amounted to 
the sum of one hundred and thirty thousand pounds of gold, — 
about five million two hundred thousand pounds sterling. . . . 
The fleet that sailed from Constantinople to Carthage consisted 
of eleven hundred and thirteen ships, and the number of sol- 
diers and mariners exceeded one hundred thousand men. . . . 
The army of Iieraclius and the fleet of Marcellinus either 
joined or seconded the imperial lieutenant. . . . The wind 
became favorable to the designs of Genseric. He manned his 
largest ships of war with the bravest of the ]\toors and Van- 
dals, and they towed after them many large barks filled with 
combustible materials. In the obscurity of the night, these 



CHAPTER 8, VERSES 8 - 11 



547 



destructive vessels were impelled against the unguarded and 
unsuspecting fleet of the Romans, who were awakened by a 
sense of their instant danger. Their close and crowded order 
assisted the progress of the fire, which was communicated with 
rapid and irresistible violence; and the noise of the wind, the 
crackling of the flames, the dissonant cries of the soldiers and 
mariners, who could neither command nor obey, increased the 
horror of the nocturnal tumult. While they labored to extri- 
cate themselves from the fire-ships, and to save at least a part 
of the navy, the galleys of Genseric assaulted them with tem- 
perate and disciplined valor; and many of the Romans who 
escaped the fury of the flames, w T ere destroyed or taken by the 
victorious Vandals. . . . After the failure of this great ex- 
pedition, Genseric again became the tyrant of the sea ; the 
coasts of Italy, Greece, and Asia were again exposed to his 
revenge and avarice; Tripoli and Sardinia returned to his 
obedience ; he added Sicily to the number of his provinces ; 
and before he died, in the fulness of years and of glory, he 
beheld the final extinction" of the empire of the West." — 
Gibbon, Vol. Ill, pp. l h 9o - 498. 

Concerning the important part which this bold corsair acted 
in the downfall of Rome, Mr. Gibbon uses this significant lan- 
guage : " Genseric, a name which, in the destruction of the 
Roman empire, has deserved an equal rank with the names of 
Alaric and Attila." 

Verse 10. And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star 
from heaven, burning- as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third 
part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters. 11. And the 
name of the star is called Wormwood : and the third part of the 
waters became wormwood ; and many men died of the waters, because 
they were made bitter. 

In the interpretation and application of this passage, we are 
brought to the third important event which resulted in the 
subversion of the Roman empire. And in finding a historical 
fulfilment of this third trumpet, we shall be indebted to the 
Notes of Dr. Albert Barnes for a few extracts. In explaining 
this scripture, it is necessary, as this commentator says, — 

" That there should be some chieftain or warrior who 



548 



THE REVELATION 



might be compared to a blazing meteor; whose course would 
be singularly brilliant; who would appear suddenly like a 
blazing star, and then disappear like a star whose light was 
quenched in the waters. That the desolating course of this 
meteor would be mainly on those portions of the world which 
abounded with springs of water and running streams; that 
an effect would be produced as if those streams and fountains 
were made bitter ; that is, that many persons would perish, and 
that wide desolations would be caused in the vicinity of those 
rivers and streams, as if a bitter and baleful star should fall 
into the waters, and death should spread over lands adjacent 
to them, and watered by them." — Notes on Revelation 8. 

It is here premised that this trumpet has allusion to the 
desolating wars and furious invasions of Attila against the 
Roman power, which he carried on at the head of his hordes 
of Huns. Speaking of this warrior, particularly of his per- 
sonal appearance, Mr. Barnes says : — 

" In the manner of his appearance, he strongly resembled 
a brilliant meteor flashing in the sky. He came from the East 
gathering his Huns, and poured them down, as we shall see, 
with the rapidity of a flashing meteor, suddenly on the empire. 
He regarded himself also as devoted to Mars, the god of war, 
and was accustomed to array himself in a peculiarly brilliant 
manner, so that his appearance, in the language of his flat- 
terers, was such as to dazzle the eyes of beholders." 

In speaking of the locality of the events predicted by this 
trumpet, Mr. Barnes has this note: — 

" It is said particularly that the effect would be on ' the 
rivers ' and on c the fountains of waters.' If this has a literal 
application, or if, as was supposed in the case of the second 
trumpet, the language used was such as had reference to the 
portion of the empire that would be particularly affected by the 
hostile invasion, then we may suppose that this refers to "those 
portions of the empire that abounded in rivers and streams, 
and more particularly those in which the rivers and streams 
had their origin; for the effect was permanently in the 'foun- 
tains of waters/ As a matter of fact, the principal operations 
of Attila were on the regions of the Alps, and on the portions 



CHAPTER 8, VERSES 10 - 12 



551 



of the empire whence the rivers now down into Italy. The 
invasion of Attila is described by Mr. Gibbon in this general 
language : ' The whole breadth of Europe, as it extends above 
five hundred miles from the Euxine to the Adriatic, was at 
once invaded, and occupied, and desolated, by the myriads of 
barbarians whom Attila led into the field.' " 

"And the Name of the Star is Called Wormivood [denot- 
ing the bitter consequences]." These words — which are 
more intimately connected with the preceding verse, as even 
the punctuation in our version denotes — recall us for a mo- 
ment to the character of Attila, to the misery of which he was 
the author or the instrument, and to the terror that was in- 
spired by his name. 

" ' Total extirpation and erasure,' are terms which best de- 
note the calamities he inflicted." He styled himself, " The 
Scourge of God." 

" One of his lieutenants chastised and almost exterminated 
the Burgundians of the Rhine. They traversed, both in their 
march and in their return, the territories of the Franks ; and 
they massacred their hostages as well as their captives. Two 
hundred young maidens were tortured with exquisite and un- 
relenting rage; their bodies were torn asunder by wild horses, 
or were crushed under the weight of rolling wagons ; and their 
unburied limbs were abandoned on public roads, as a prey to 
dogs and vultures. 

" It was the boast of Attila that the grass never grew on 
the spot which his horse had trod. The Western emperor with 
the senate and people of Rome, humbly and fearfully depre- 
cated the wrath of Attila. And the concluding paragraph of 
the chapters which record his history, is entitled, ' Symptoms 
of the Decay and Ruin of the Roman Government.' ' The 
name of the star is called Wormwood.' " — • Keith. 

Verse 12. And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the 
sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part 
of the stars ; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day 
shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise. 

We understand that this trumpet symbolizes the career of 
Odoacer, the barbarian monarch who was so intimately con- 
35 



552 



THE REVELATION 



nected with the downfall of Western Rome. The symbols sun, 
moon, and stars — for they are undoubtedly here used as sym- 
bols — evidently denote the great luminaries of the Roman 
government, — its emperors, senators, and consuls. Bishop 
Newton remarks that the last emperor of Western Rome was 
Romulus, who in derision was called Augustulus, or the " dim- 
inutive Augustus." Western Rome fell a. d. 476. Still, 
however, though the Roman sun was extinguished, its subor- 
dinate luminaries shone faintly while the senate and consuls 
continued. Rut after many civil reverses and changes of 
political fortune, at length, a. d. 566, the whole form of the 
ancient government was subverted, and Rome itself was re- 
duced from being the empress of the world to a poor dukedom 
tributary to the Exarch of Ravenna. 

Under the heading, " Extinction of the Western Empire, 
a. d. 476 or a. d. 479," Elder J. Litch (Prophetic Exposition, 
Vol. II, pp. 156 - 160) quotes from Mr. Keith as follows: — 

" The unfortunate Augustulus was made the instrument of 
his own disgrace ; and he signified his resignation to the senate ; 
and that assembly, in their last act of obedience to a Roman 
prince, still affected the spirit of freedom and the forms of the 
constitution. An epistle was addressed, by their unanimous 
decree, to the emperor Zeno, the son-in-law and successor of 
Leo, who had lately been restored, after a short rebellion, to 
the Byzantine throne. They solemnly ' disclaim the necessity 
or even the wish of continuing any longer the imperial suc- 
cession in Italy; since in their opinion the majesty of a sole 
monarch is sufficient to pervade and to protect, at the same time, 
both the East and the West. In their own name, and in the 
name of the people, they consent that the seat of universal 
empire shall be transferred from Rome to Constantinople ; and 
they basely renounce the right of choosing their master, the 
only vestige which yet remained of the authority which had 
given laws of the world.' 

" The power and glory of Rome as bearing rule over any 
nation, became extinct. The name alone remained to the queen 
of nations. Every token of royalty disappeared from the im- 
perial city. She who had ruled over the nations sat in the 



CHAPTER 8, VERSE 12 



553 



dust, like a second Babylon, and there was no throne where 
the Csesars had reigned. The last act of obedience to a Roman 
prince which that once august assembly performed, was the 
acceptance of the resignation of the last emperor of the West, 
and the abolition of the imperial succession in Italy. The sun 
of Rome was smitten. . . . 

"A new conqueror of Italy, Theodoric, the Ostrogoth, speed- 
ily arose, who unscrupulously assumed the purple, and reigned 
by right of conquest. ' The royalty of Theodoric was pro- 
claimed by the Goths (March 5, a. d. 493), with the tardy, 
reluctant, ambiguous consent of the emperor of the East.' 
The imperial Roman power, of which either Rome or Con- 
stantinople had been jointly or singly the seat, whether in the 
West or the East, was no longer recognized in Italy, and the 
third part of the sun was smitten, till it emitted no longer 
the faintest rays. The power of the Caesars was unknown 
in Italy; and a Gothic king reigned over Rome. 

" But though the third part of the sun was smitten, and the 
Roman imperial power was at an end in the city of the Caesars, 
yet the moon and the stars still shone, or glimmered, for a little 
longer in the Western empire, even in the midst of Gothic dark- 
ness. The consulship and the senate [" the moon and the 
stars "] were not abolished by Theodoric. C A Gothic historian 
applauds the consulship of Theodoric as the height of all tem- 
poral power and greatness ; ' — as the moon reigns by night, 
after the setting of the sun. And instead of abolishing that 
office, Theodoric himself ' congratulates those annual favorites 
of fortune, who, without the cares, enjoyed the splendor of 
the throne.' 

" But in their prophetic order, the consulship and the sen- 
ate of Rome met their fate, though they fell not by the hands 
of Vandals or of Goths. The next revolution in Italy was in 
subjection to Belisarius, the general of Justinian, emperor of 
the East. He did not spare what barbarians had hallowed. 
' The Roman Consulship Extinguished by Justinian, a. d. 541,' 
is the title of the last paragraph of the fortieth chapter of 
Gibbon's History of the Decline and Eall of Rome. ' The 
succession of the consuls finally ceased in the thirteenth year 



554 



THE REVELATION 



of Justinian, whose despotic temper might be gratified by the 
silent extinction of a title which admonished the Romans of 
their ancient freedom.' The third part of the sun was smit- 
ten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the 
stars. In the political firmament of the ancient world, while 
under the reign of imperial Rome, the emperorship, the consul- 
ate, and the senate shone like the sun, the moon, and the stars. 
The history of their decline and fall is brought down till the 
two former were ' extinguished/ in reference to Rome and 
Italy, which so long had ranked as the first of cities and of 
countries; and finally, as the fourth trumpet closes, we see the 
' extinction of that illustrious assembly,' the Roman senate. 
The city that had ruled the world, as if in mockery of human 
greatness, was conquered by the eunuch Parses, the successor 
of Belisarius. He defeated the Goths (a. d. 552), achieved 
' the conquest of Rome,' and the fate of the senate was sealed." 

Elliott (Horse Apocalyptica?, Vol. I, pp. 357 -360) speaks 
of the fulfilment of this portion of the prophecy in the extinc- 
tion of the Western enrpire, as follows: — 

" Thus was the final catastrophe preparing, by which the 
Western emperors and empire were to become extinct. The 
glory of Rome had long departed; its provinces one after 
another had been rent from it ; the territory still attached to it 
become like a desert ; and its maritime possessions and its 
fleets and commerce been annihilated. Little remained to it 
but the vain titles and insignia of sovereignty. And now the 
time was come when these too were to be withdrawn. Some 
twenty years or more from the death of Attila, and much less 
from that of Genseric (who, ere his death, had indeed visited 
and ravaged the eternal city in one of his maritime marauding 
expeditions, and thus yet more prepared the coming consumma- 
tion), about this time, I say, Odoacer, chief of the Heruli, — a 
barbarian remnant of the host of Attila, left on the Alpine 
frontiers of Italy, — ■ interposed with his command that the name 
and the office of Roman emperor of the West, should be abol- 
ished. The authorities bowed in submission to him. The last 
phantom of an emperor — one whose name, Romulus Augustus, 
was singularly calculated to bring in contrast before the reflect- 




SURRENDER OF WESTERN ROME TO ODOACER 



CHAPTER 8, VERSE 12 



557 



ive mind the past glories of Rome and its present degradation 
— abdicated ; and the senate sent away the imperial insignia 
to Constantinople, professing to the emperor of the East that 
one emperor was sufficient for the whole of the empire. Thus 
of the Roman imperial sun, that third which appertained to 
the Western empire was eclipsed, and shone no more. I say, 
That third of its orb which appertained to the Western empire; 
for the Apocalyptic fraction is literally accurate. In the last 
arrangement between the two courts, the whole of the Illyrian 
third had been made over to the Eastern division. Thus in 
the West ' the extinction of the empire ' had taken place ; 
the night had fallen. 

" ^Notwithstanding this, however, it must be borne in mind 
that the authority of the Roman name had not yet entirely 
ceased. The senate of Rome continued to assemble as usual. 
The consuls were appointed yearly, one by the Eastern emperor, 
one by Italy and Rome. Odoacer himself governed Italy under 
a title (that of patrician) conferred on him by the Eastern 
emperor. And as regarded the more distant Western provinces, 
or at least considerable districts in them, the tie which had 
united them to the Roman empire was not altogether severed. 
There was still a certain, though often faint, recognition of the 
supreme imperial authority. The moon and the stars might 
seem still to shine on the West with a dim reflected light. In 
the course of the events, however, which rapidly followed one 
on the other in the next half century, these, too, were extin- 
guished. Theodoric, the Ostrogoth, on destroying the Heruli 
and their kingdom at Rome and Ravenna, ruled in Italy from 
a. d. 493 to 526 as an independent sovereign; and on Belisa- 
rius's and JSTarses's conquest of Italy from the Ostrogoths (a 
conquest preceded by wars and desolations in which Italy, and 
above all its seven-hilled city, were for a time almost made 
desert), the Roman senate was dissolved, the consulship abro- 
gated. Moreover, as regards the barbaric princes of the West- 
ern provinces, their independence of the Roman imperial power 
became now more distinctly averred and understood. After 
above a century and a half of calamities unexampled almost, as 
Dr. Robertson most truly represents it, in the history of nations, 



558 



THE REVELATION 



the statement of Jerome,— a statement couched under the very 
Apocalyptic figure of the text, but prematurely pronounced on 
the first taking of Rome by Alaric, — might be considered as at 
length accomplished: ' Clarissimum terrarum lumen extinctum 
est/ ■ The world's glorious sun has been extinguished ; ' and 
that, too, which our own poet has expressed, still under the 
same beautifully appropriate Apocalyptic imagery, — 
' She saw her glories star by star expire/ 

till not even a single star remained, to glimmer on the vacant 
and dark night." 

The fearful ravages of these barbarian hordes, who, under 
their bold but cruel and desperate leaders, devastated Rome, 
are vividly portrayed in the following spirited lines : — - 

" And then a deluge of wrath it came, 

And the nations shook with dread; 
And it swept the earth, till its fields were flame, 

And piled with the mingled dead. 
Kings were rolled in the wasteful flood, 

With the low and crouching slave, 
And together lay, in a shroud of blood, 

The coward and the brave." 

Tearful as were the calamities brought upon the empire by 
the first incursions of these barbarians, they were comparatively 
light as contrasted with the calamities which were to follow. 
They were but as the preliminary drops of a shower before the 
torrent which was soon to fall upon the Roman world. The 
three remaining trumpets are overshadowed with a cloud of 
woe, as set forth in the following verses. 

Verse 13. And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the 
midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the in- 
habiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of 
the three angels, which are yet to sound. 

This angel is not one of the series of the seven trumpet 
angels, but simply one who announces that the three remaining 
trumpets are woe trumpets, on account of the more terrible 
events to transpire under their sounding. Thus the next, or 
fifth trumpet, is the first woe; the sixth trumpet, the second 
woe; and the seventh, the last one in this series of seven 
trumpets, is the third woe. 




WOE, WOE, WOE, TO THE INHABITERS OF THE EARTHI" 




Verse 1. And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from 
heaven unto the earth : and to him was given the key of the bottom- 
less pit. 

FOR an exposition of this trumpet, we shall again draw 
from the writings of Mr. Keith. This writer truthfully 
says : " There is scarcely so uniform an agreement among 
interpreters concerning any other part of the Apocalypse as re- 
specting the application of the fifth and sixth trumpets, or the 
first and second woes, to the Saracens and Turks. It is so 
obvious that it can scarcely be misunderstood. Instead of a 
verse or two designating each, the whole of the ninth chapter 
of the Revelation, in equal portions, is occupied with a de- 
scription of both. 

" The Roman empire declined, as it arose, by conquest ; 
but the Saracens and the Turks were the instruments by which 
a false religion became the scourge of an apostate church ; and 
hence, instead of the fifth and sixth trumpets, like the former, 
being designated by that name alone, they are called woes. 

" Constantinople was besieged, for the first time after the 
extinction of the Western empire, by Chosroes, the king of 
Persia." 

"A star fell from heaven unto the earth ; and to him was 
given the key of the bottomless pit," 

" While the Persian monarch contemplated the wonders of 
his art and power, he received an epistle from an obscure citi- 
zen of Mecca, inviting him to acknowledge Mohammed as the 

(561) 



562 



THE REVELATION 



apostle of God. He rejected the invitation, and tore the 
epistle. i It is thus/ exclaimed the Arabian prophet, ' that 
God will tear the kingdom, and reject the supplication of 
Chosroes.' Placed on the verge of these two empires of the 
East, Mohammed observed with secret joy the progress of 
mutual destruction; and in the midst of the Persian triumphs 
he ventured to foretell, that, before many years should elapse, 
victory would again return to the banners of the Romans. 'At 
the time when this prediction is said to have been delivered, no 
prophecy could be more distant from its accomplishment ( ! ) 
since the first twelve years of Heraclius announced the ap- 
proaching dissolution of the empire.' 

" It was not, like that designative of Attila, on a single 
spot that the star fell, but upon the earth. 

" Chosroes subjugated the Roman possessions in Asia and 
Africa. And ' the Roman empire/ at that period, ' was re- 
duced to the walls of Constantinople, with the remnant of 
Greece, Italy, and Africa, and some maritime cities, from 
Tyre to Trebizond, of the Asiatic coast. The experience of 
six years at length persuaded the Persian monarch to renounce 
the conquest of Constantinople, and to specify the annual trib- 
ute of the ransom of the Roman empire, — a thousand talents 
of gold, a thousand talents of silver, a thousand silk robes, a 
thousand horses, and a thousand virgins. Heraclius subscribed 
to these ignominious terms. But the time and space which 
he obtained to collect those treasures from the poverty of the 
East, were industriously employed in the preparation of a 
bold and desperate attack.' 

" The king of Persia despised the obscure Saracen, and 
derided the message of the pretended prophet of Mecca. Even 
the overthrow of the Roman empire would not have opened a 
door for Mohammedanism, or for the progress of the Saracenic 
armed propagators of an imposture, though the monarch of 
the Persians and chagan of the Avars (the successor of Attila) 
had divided between them the remains of the kingdoms of the 
Csesars. Chosroes himself fell. The Persian and Roman 
monarchies exhausted each other's strength. And before a 
sword was put into the hands of the false prophet, it was 



CHAPTER 9, VERSE 1 



563 



smitten from the hands of those who would have checked his 
career and crushed his power. 

" ' Since the days of Scipio and Hannibal, no bolder enter- 
prise has been attempted than that which Heraclius achieved 
for the deliverance of the empire. He explored his perilous 
way through the Black Sea and the mountains of Armenia, 
penetrated into the heart of Persia, and recalled the armies of 
the great king to the defense of their bleeding country.' " 

" In the battle of Nineveh, which was fiercely fought from 
daybreak to the eleventh hour, twenty-eight standards, besides 
those which might be broken or torn, were taken from the 
Persians ; the greatest part of their army was cut in pieces, 
and the victors, concealing their own loss, passed the night 
on the field. The cities and palaces of Assyria were opened 
for the first time to the Romans." 

" The Roman emperor was not strengthened by the con- 
quests which he achieved ; and a way was prepared at the same 
time, and by the same means, for the multitudes of Saracens 
from Arabia, like locusts from the same region, who, propa- 
gating in their course the dark and delusive Mohammedan 
creed, speedily overspread both the Persian and the Roman 
empire. 

" More complete illustration of this fact could not be de- 
sired than is supplied in the concluding words of the chapter 
from Gibbon, from which the preceding extracts are taken." 
"Although a victorious army had been formed under the stand- 
ard of Heraclius, the unnatural effort seems to have exhausted 
rather than exercised their strength. While the emperor tri- 
umphed at Constantinople or Jerusalem, an obscure town on 
the confines of Syria was pillaged by the Saracens, and they 
cut in pieces some troops who advanced to its relief, — an 
ordinary and trifling occurrence, had it not been the prelude 
of a mighty revolution. These robbers were the apostles of 
Mohammed; their frantic valor had emerged from the desert; 
and in the last eight years of his reign, Heraclius lost to the 
Arabs the same provinces which he had rescued from the 
Persians." 

" ' The spirit of fraud and enthusiasm, whose abode is not 



564 



THE REVELATION 



in the heavens/ was let loose on earth. The bottomless pit 
needed bnt a key to open it, and that hey was the fall of Chos- 
roes. He had contemptnonslj torn the letter of an obscure 
citizen of Mecca. But when from his ' blaze of glory ' he sunk 
into the ' tower of darkness ' which no eye could penetrate, the 
name of Chosroes was suddenly to pass into oblivion before 
that of Mohammed ; and the crescent seemed but to wait its 
rising till the falling of the star. Chosroes, after his entire 
discomfiture and loss of empire, was murdered in the year 
628; and the year 629 is marked by ' the conquest of Arabia/ 
and ' the first war of the Mohammedans against the Roman 
empire.' 'And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall 
from heaven unto the earth ; and to him was given the key of 
the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit.' He 
fell unto the earth. When the strength of the Roman empire 
was exhausted, and the great king of the East lay dead in his 
tower of darkness, the pillage of an obscure town on the bor- 
ders of Syria was ' the prelude of a mighty revolution.' ' The 
robbers were the apostles of Mohammed, and their frantic valor 
emerged from the desert.' 99 

The Bottomless Pit. — The meaning of this term may be 
learned from the Greek afivaaosi which is defined " deep, bot- 
tomless, profound," and may refer to any waste, desolate, and 
uncultivated place. It is applied to the earth in its original 
state of chaos. Gen. 1 : 2. In this instance it may appro- 
priately refer to the unknown wastes of the Arabian desert, 
from the borders of which issued the hordes of Saracens, like 
swarms of locusts. And the fall of Chosroes, the Persian king, 
may well be represented as the opening of the bottomless pit, 
inasmuch as it prepared the way for the followers of Moham- 
med to issue from their obscure country, and propagate their 
delusive doctrines with fire and sword, till they had spread 
their darkness over all the Eastern empire. 

Verse 2. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a 
smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace ; and the sun and 
the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. 

" Like the noxious and even deadly vapors which the winds, 
particularly from the southwest, diffuse in Arabia, Mohammed- 



CHAPTER 9, VERSES 2 - k 



567 



anism spread from thence its pestilential influence, — arose as 
suddenly and spread as widely as smoke arising out of the pit, 
the smoke of a great furnace. Such is a suitable symbol of 
the religion of Mohammed, of itself, or as compared with the 
pure light of the gospel of Jesus. It was not, like the latter, 
a light from heaven, but a smoke out of the bottomless pit." 

Ver^e 3. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth : 
and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have 
power. 

"A false religion was set up, which, although the scourge 
of transgressions and idolatry, filled the world with darkness 
and delusion ; and swarms of Saracens, like locusts, overspread 
the earth, and speedily extended their ravages over the Eoman 
empire from east to west. The hail descended from the frozen 
shores of the Baltic; the burning mountain fell upon the sea 
from Africa; and the locusts (the fit symbol of the Arabs) 
issued from Arabia, their native region. They came as de- 
stroyers, propagating a new doctrine, and stirred up to rapine 
and violence by motives of interest and religion. 

"A still more specific illustration may be given of the 
power like unto that of scorpions, which was given them. 
Not only was their attack speedy and vigorous, but ' the nice 
sensibility of honor, which weighs the insult rather than the 
injury, shed its deadly venom on the quarrels of the Arabs; 
an indecent action, a contemptuous word, can be expiated only 
by the blood of the offender ; and such is their patient inveter- 
acy, that they expect whole months and years the opportunity 
of revenge.' " 

Verse 4. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt 
the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; 
but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. 

After the death of Mohammed, he was succeeded in the 
command by Abubekr, a. d. 632, who, as soon as he had 
fairly established his authority and government, dispatched a 
circular letter to the Arabian tribes, from which the following 
is an extract : — 

" ' When you fight the battles of the Lord, acquit yourselves 
36 



568 



THE REVELATION 



like men, without turning your backs; but let not your victory 
be stained with the blood of women and children. Destroy no 
palm-trees, nor burn any fields of corn. Cut down no fruit- 
trees, nor do any mischief to cattle, only such as you kill to 
eat. When you make any covenant or article, stand to it, and 
be as good as your word. And as you go, you will find some 
religious persons who live retired in monasteries, and propose 
to themselves to serve God that way; let them alone, and 
neither kill them nor destroy their monasteries. And you 
will find another sort of people that belong to the synagogue 
of Satan, who have shaven crowns; be sure you cleave their 
skulls, and give them no quarter till they either turn Moham- 
medans or pay tribute.' 

" It is not said in prophecy or in history that the more 
humane injunctions were as scrupulously obeyed as the fero- 
cious mandate ; but it was so commanded them. And the pre- 
ceding are the only instructions recorded by Gibbon, as given 
by Abubekr to the chiefs whose duty it was to issue the com- 
mands to all the Saracen hosts. The commands are alike dis- 
criminating with the prediction, as if the caliph himself had 
been acting in known as well as direct obedience to a higher 
mandate than that of mortal man; and in the very act of 
going forth to fight against the religion of Jesus, and to propa- 
gate Mohammedanism in its stead, he repeated the words which 
it was foretold in the Revelation of Jesus Christ that he 
would say." 

The Seal of God in Their Foreheads. — In remarks upon 
chapter 7:1-3, we have shown that the seal of God is the 
Sabbath of the 'fourth commandment; and history is not silent 
upon the fact that there have been observers of the true Sab- 
bath all through the present dispensation.. But the question 
has here arisen with many, Who were those men who at this 
time had the seal of God in their foreheads, and who thereby 
became exempt from Mohammedan oppression ? Let the 
reader bear in mind the fact, already alluded to, that there 
have been those all through this dispensation who have had 
the seal of God in their foreheads, or have been intelligent 
observers of the true Sabbath; and let them consider further 



CHAPTER 9, VERSE k 



569 



that what the prophecy asserts is that the attacks of this deso- 
lating Turkish power are not directed against them, but against 
another class. The subject is thus freed from all difficulty; 
for this is all that the prophecy really asserts. Only one class 
of persons is directly brought to view in the text; namely, 
those who have not the seal of God in their foreheads ; and 
the preservation of those who have the seal of God is brought 
in only by implication. Accordingly, we do not learn from 
history that any of these were involved in any of the calami- 
ties inflicted by the Saracens upon the objects of their hate. 
They were commissioned against another class of men. And 
the destruction to come upon this class of men is not put in 
contrast with the preservation of other men, but only with 
that of the fruits and verdure of the earth; thus, Hurt not 
the grass, trees, nor any green thing, but only a certain class 
of men. And in fulfilment, we have the strange spectacle of 
an army of invaders sparing those things which such armies 
usually destroy, namely, the face and productions of nature ; 
and, in pursuance of their permission to hurt those men who 
had not the seal of God in their foreheads, cleaving the skulls 
of a class of religionists with shaven crowns, who belonged to 
the synagogue of Satan. 

These were doubtless a class of monks, or some other divi- 
sion of the Roman Catholic Church. Against these the arms 
of the Mohammedans were directed. And it seems to us that 
there is a peculiar fitness, if not design, in describing them as 
those who had not the seal of God in their foreheads ; inasmuch 
as that is the very church which has robbed the law of God of 
its seal, by tearing away the true Sabbath, and. erecting a coun- 
terfeit in its place. And we do not understand, either from the 
prophecy or from history, that those persons whom Abubekr 
charged his followers not to molest were in possession of the 
seal of God, or necessarily constituted the people of God. 
Who they were, and for what reason they were spared, the 
meager testimony of Gibbon does not inform us, and we have 
no other means of knowing; but we have every reason to be- 
lieve that none of those who had the seal of God were mo- 
lested, while another class, who emphatically had it not, were 



570 



THE REVELATION 



put to the sword; and thus the specifications of the prophecy 
are amply met. 

Verse 5. And to them it was given that they should not kill them, 
but that they should be tormented five months ; and their torment was 
as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. 

" Their constant incursions into the Roman territory, and 
frequent assaults on Constantinople itself, were an unceasing 
torment throughout the empire; and yet they were not able 
effectually to subdue it, notwithstanding the long period, after- 
ward more directly alluded to, during which they continued, by 
unremitting attacks, grievously to afflict an idolatrous church, 
of which the pope was the head. Their charge was to torment, 
and then to hurt, but not to kill, or utterly destroy. The 
marvel was that they did not." (In reference to the five 
months, see on verse 10.) 

Verse 6. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not 
find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. 

" Men were weary of life, when life was spared only for a 
renewal of woe, and when all that they accounted sacred was 
violated, and all that they held dear constantly endangered, 
and the savage Saracens domineered over them, or left them 
only to a momentary repose, ever liable to be suddenly or 
violently interrupted, as if by the stiug of a scorpion." 

Verse 7. And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses pre- 
pared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like 
gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. 

" The Arabian horse takes the lead throughout the world ; 
and skill in horsemanship is the art and science of Arabia. 
And the barbed Arabs, swift as locusts and armed like scor- 
pions, ready to dart away in a moment, were ever prepared 
unto battle. 

" 'And on their heads were as it were crowns like gold.' 
When Mohammed entered Medina (a. d. 622), and was first 
received as its prince, i a turban was unfurled before him to 
supply the deficiency of a standard.' The turbans of the 
Saracens, like unto a coronet, were their ornament and their 




SARACEN WARRIOR 



CHAPTER 9, VERSES 7 - 10 



573 



boast. The rich booty abundantly supplied and frequently 
renewed them. To assume the turban is proverbially to turn 
Mussulman. And the Arabs were anciently distinguished by 
the miters which they wore. 

" 'And their faces were as the faces of men.' i The gravity 
and firmness of the mind of the Arab is conspicuous in his out- 
ward demeanor; his only gesture is that of stroking his beard, 
the venerable symbol of manhood.' 1 The honor of their 
beards is most easily wounded.' " 

Verse 8. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth 
were as the teeth of lions. 

" Long hair " is esteemed an ornament by women. The 
Arabs, unlike other men, had their hair as the hair of women, 
or uncut, as their practice is recorded by Pliny and others. 
But there was nothing effeminate in their character; for, as 
denoting their ferocity and strength to devour, their teeth were 
as the teeth of lions. 

Verse 9. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of 
iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of 
many horses running to battle. 

The Breastplate. — " The cuirass (or breastplate) was in 
use among the Arabs in the days of Mohammed. In the bat- 
tle of Ohud (the second which Mohammed fought) with the 
Koreish of Mecca (a. d. 624), ' seven hundred of them were 
armed with cuirasses.' " 

The Sound of Their Wings. — " The charge of the Arabs 
was not, like that of the Greeks and Romans, the efforts of a 
firm and compact infantry; their military force was chiefly 
formed of cavalry and archers. With a touch of the hand, 
the Arab horses darted away with the swiftness of the wind, 
" The sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of 
many horses running to battle." Their conquests were mar- 
velous both in rapidity and extent, and their attack was in- 
stantaneous. Nor was it less successful against the Romans 
than the Persians." 

Verse 10. And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were 
stings in their tails : and their power was to hurt men five months. 



574 



THE REVELATION 



11. And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottom- 
less pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the 
Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon. 

Thus far, Keith has furnished us with illustrations of the 
sounding of the first five trumpets. But we must now take 
leave of him, and proceed to the application of the new 7 feature 
of the prophecy here introduced ; namely, the prophetic periods. 

Their Power Was to Hurt Men Five Months, — 1. The 
question arises, What men Avere they to hurt five months ? — 
Undoubtedly the same they were afterward to slay (see verse 
15) ; " the third part of men," or third of the Roman empire, 
— the Greek division of it. 

2. When w T ere they to begin their work of torment ? The 
11th verse answers the question. 

(1) " They had a king over them." From the death of 
Mohammed until near the close of the thirteenth century, 
the Mohammedans were divided into various factions under 
several leaders, with no general civil government extending 
over them all. Near the close of the thirteenth century, Oth- 
man founded a government which has since been known as the 
Ottoman government, or empire, extending over all the prin- 
cipal Mohammedan tribes, consolidating them into one grand 
monarchy. 

(2) The character of the king. " Which is the angel of 
the bottomless pit." An angel signifies a messenger, a min- 
ister, either good or bad, and not always a spiritual being. 
" The angel of the bottomless pit," or chief minister of the 
religion which came from thence w r hen it was opened. That 
religion is Mohammedanism, and the sultan is its chief min- 
ister. " The Sultan, or grand Seignior, as he is indifferently 
called, is also Supreme Caliph, or high priest, uniting in his 
person the highest spiritual dignity with the supreme secular 
authority." — World As It Is, p. 361. 

(3) His name. In Hebrew, "Abaddon," the destroyer; 
in Greek, "Apollyon," one that exterminates, or destroys. 
Having two different names in two languages, it is evident 
that the character, rather than the name of the power, is in- 
tended to be represented. If so, as expressed in both lan- 



CHAPTER 9, VERSES 10-15 



guages, he is a destroyer. Such has always been the character 
of the Ottoman government. 

But when did Othman make his first assault on the Greek 
empire \ — According to Gibbon, Decline and Fall, etc., "Oth- 
man first entered the territory of Sicomedia on the 27th day 
of July, 1299." 

The calculations of some writers have gone upon the suppo- 
sition that the period should begin with the fotmclation of the 
Ottoman empire; but this is evidently an error; for they were 
not only to have a king over them, but were to torment men 
five months. But the period of torment could not begin before 
the first attack of the tormentors, which was, as above stated, 
July 27, 1299. 

The calculation which follows, founded on this starting- 
point, was made and published in a work entitled, Christ's 
Second Coming, etc., by J. Litch, in 1S38. 

"And their power was to hurt men five months." Thus 
far their commission extended, to torment by constant dep- 
redations, but not politically to kill them. " Five months," 
thirty days to a month, give us one hundred and fifty days; 
and these days, being symbolic, signify one hundred and fifty 
years. Commencing July 27, 1299, the one hundred and 
fifty years reach to ldd9. During that whole period the 
Turks were engaged in an almost perpetual warfare with the 
Greek empire, but yet without conquering it. They seized 
upon and held several of the Greek provinces, but still Greek 
independence was maintained in Constantinople. But in 
144:9, the termination of the one hundred and fifty years, a 
change came, the history of which will be found under the 
succeeding trumpet. 

Verse 12. One woe is past ; and, behold, there come two woes more 
hereafter. 13. And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice 
from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, 11. 
Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four 
angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. 15. And the 
four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, 
and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. 

The first woe was to continue from the rise of ]\Iohammed- 
anism until the end of the five months. Then the first woe 



576 



THE REVELATION 



was to end, and the second to begin. And when the sixth 
angel sounded, it was commanded to take off the restraints 
which had been imposed on the nation, by which they were 
restricted to the work of tormenting men, and their commis- 
sion was enlarged so as to permit them to slay the third part 
of men. This command came from the four horns of the 
golden altar. 

The Four Angels. — These were the fonr principal sultan- 
ies of which the Ottoman empire was composed, located in 
the country watered by the great river Euphrates. These 
sultanies Avere situated at Aleppo, Iconium, Damascus, and 
Bagdad. Previously they had been restrained; but God com- 
manded, and they were loosed. 

In the year 1-149, John Palseologus, the Greek emperor, 
died, but left no children to inherit his throne, and Constan- 
tine, his brother, succeeded to it. 1 But he would not venture 
to ascend the throne without the consent of Amurath, the 
Turkish sultan. He therefore * sent ambassadors to ask his 
consent, and obtained it before he presumed to call himself 
sovereign. 

Let this historical fact be carefully examined in connec- 
tion with the prediction given above. This was not a violent 
assault made on the Greeks, by which their empire was over- 
thrown and their independence taken away, but simply a vol- 
untary surrender of that independence into the hands of the 
Turks. The authority and supremacy of the Turkish power 
was acknowledged when Constantine virtually said, " I cannot 
reign unless you permit." 

The four angels were loosed for an hour, a day, a month, 
and a year, to slay the third part of men. This period 
amounts to three hundred ninety-one years and fifteen days, 
during which Ottoman supremacy was to exist in Constanti- 
nople. Thus : A prophetic year is three hundred and sixty 
prophetic days, or three hundred and sixty literal years; a 
prophetic month, thirty prophetic days, is thirty literal years; 



1 Some historians have given this date as 1448, but the best authorities sustain 
the date here given, 1449. See Chamber's Encyclopedia, art. Palseologus. 



NTRV OK MOHAMMED II. INTO CONSTANTINOPLE 



CHAPTER 9, VERSES 12 - 16 



579 



one prophetic day is one literal year; and an hour, or the 
twenty-fourth part of a prophetic day, would he a twenty- 
fourth part of a literal year, or fifteen days ; the whole amount- 
ing to three hundred and ninety-one years and fifteen clays. 

But although the four angels were thus loosed by the vol- 
untary submission of the Greeks, yet another doom awaited 
the seat of empire. Amurath, the sultan to whom the sub- 
mission of Constantine XIII was made, and by whose permis- 
sion he reigned in Constantinople, soon after died, and was 
succeeded in the empire, in 1451, by Mohammed II, who set 
his heart on securing Constantinople as the seat of his empire. 

He accordingly made preparations for besieging and taking 
the city. The siege commenced on the 6th of April, 1453, 
and ended in the capture of the city, and the death of the last 
of the Constantines, on the 16th day of May following. And 
the eastern city of the Csesars became the seat of the Otto- 
man empire. 

The arms and mode of warfare which were used in the 
siege in which Constantinople was to be overthrown and held 
in subjection were, as we shall see, distinctly noticed by the 
Revelator. 

Verse 16. And the number of the army of the horsemen were two 
hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. 

Innumerable hordes of horses, and them that sat on them ! 
Gibbon thus describes the first invasion of the Roman territo- 
ries by the Turks : " The myriads of Turkish horse overspread 
a frontier of six hundred miles, from Taurus to Erzeroum; 
and the blood of 130,000 Christians was a grateful sacrifice 
to the Arabian prophet." Whether the language is designed 
to convey the idea of any definite number or not, the reader 
must judge. Some suppose 200,000 twice told is meant, and, 
following some historians, they find that number of Turkish 
warriors in the siege of Constantinople. Some think 200,- 
000,000 to mean all the Turkish warriors during the three 
hundred and ninety-one years and fifteen days of their triumph 
over the Greeks. Nothing can be affirmed on the point. And 
it is nothing at all essential. 



580 THE REVELATION 

Verse 17. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that 
sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brim- 
stone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and 
out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. 

The first part of this description may have reference to the 
appearance of these horsemen. Tire, representing a color, 
stands for red, " as red as fire " being a frequent term of 
expression; jacinth, or hyacinth, for blue; and brimstone, for 
yellow. And these colors greatly predominated in the dress of 
these "warriors; so that the description, according to this view, 
would be accurately met in the Turkish uniform, which was 
composed largely of red, or scarlet, blue, and yellow. The 
heads of the horses were in appearance as the heads of lions, 
to denote their strength, courage, and fierceness; while the 
last part of the verse undoubtedly has reference to the use of 
gunpowder and firearms for purposes of war, which were then 
but recently introduced. As the Turks discharged their fire- 
arms on horseback, it would appear to the distant beholder 
that the fire, smoke, and brimstone issued out of the horses' 
mouths, as illustrated by the accompanying plate. 1 

Respecting the use of firearms by the Turks in their cam- 
paign against Constantinople, Elliott (Horse Apocalypticse, Vol. 
I, pp. 482-484) thus speaks:- — ■ 

" It was to ' the fire and the smoke and the sulphur/ to* 
the artillery and firearms of Mahomet, that the killing of the 
third part of men, i. e., the capture of Constantinople, and by 
consequence the destruction of the Greek empire, was owing. 
Eleven hundred years and more had now elapsed since her 
foundation by Constantine. In the course of them, Goths, 
Huns, Avars, Persians, Bulgarians, Saracens, Russians, and 

1 Quite an agreement exists among commentators in applying the prophecy con- 
cerning the fire, smoke, and brimstone to the use of gunpowder by the Turks in 
their warfare against the Eastern empire. (See Clarke, Barnes, Elliott, Cottage 
Bible, etc.) But they generally allude simply to the heavy ordnance, the large 
cannon, employed by that power; whereas the prophecy mentions especially the 
" horses," and the fire " issuing from their mouths," as though smaller arms were 
used, and used on horseback. Barnes thinks this was the case; and a statement 
from Gibbon confirms this view. He says (IV, 343) : " The incessant volleys of 
lances and arrows were accompanied with the smoke, the sound, and the fire of their 
musketry and cannon." Here is good historical evidence that muskets were used 
by the Turks; and, secondly, it is undisputed that in their general warfare they 
fought principally on horseback. The inference is therefore well supported that they 
used firearms on horseback, accurately fulfilling the prophecy, according to the 
illustration above referred to. 




TURKISH WARRIOR 



CHAPTER 9, VERSE 17 



583 



indeed the Ottoman Tnrks themselves, had made their hostile 
assaults, or laid siege against it. But the fortifications were 
impregnable by them. Constantinople survived, and with it 
the Greek empire. Hence the anxiety of the Sultan Mahomet 
to find that which would remove the obstacle. ' Canst thou 
cast a cannon,' was his question to the founder of cannon that 
deserted to him, ' of size sufficient to batter down the wall 
of Constantinople ? ' Then the foundry was established at 
Adrianople, the cannon cast, the artillery prepared, and the 
siege began. 

" It well deserves remark, how Gibbon, always the uncon- 
scious commentator on the Apocalyptic prophecy, puts this 
new instrumentality of war into the foreground of his picture, 
in his eloquent and striking narrative of the final catastrophe 
of the Greek empire. In preparation for it, he gives the his- 
tory of the recent invention of gunpowder, ' that mixture of 
saltpeter, sulphur, and charcoal; ' tells of its earlier use by 
the Sultan Amurath, and also, as before said, of Mahomet's 
foundry of larger cannon at Adrianople ; then, in the progress 
of the siege itself, describes how ' the volleys of lances and 
arrows were accompanied with the smoke, the sound, and the 
fire of the musketry and cannon ; ' how ' the long order of the 
Turkish artillery was pointed against the walls, fourteen bat- 
teries thundering at once on the most accessible places ; ' how 
i the fortifications which had stood for ages against hostile vio- 
lence were dismantled on all sides by the Ottoman cannon, 
many breaches opened, and near the gate of St. Romanus, 
four towers leveled with the ground : ' how, as ' from the lines, 
the galleys, and the bridge, the Ottoman artillery thundered on 
all sides, the camp and city, the Greeks- and the Turks, were 
involved in a cloud of smoke, which could only be dispelled by 
the final deliverance or destruction of the Roman empire : ' how 
' the double, walls were reduced by the cannon to a heap of 
ruins : ' and how the Turks at length ' rushing through the 
breaches,' ' Constantinople was subdued, her empire subverted, 
and her religion trampled in the dust by the Moslem con- 
querors.' I say it well deserves observation how markedly 
and strikingly Gibbon attributes the capture of the city, and 
37 



584 



THE REVELATION 



so the destruction of the empire, to the Ottoman artillery. 
For what is it but a comment on the words of our prophecy ? 
i By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, 
and by the smoke, and by the sulphur, which issued out of 
their mouths/ " 

Verse 18. By these three was the third part of men killed, by the 
fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of 
their mouths. 19. For their power is in their mouth, and in their 
tails; for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with 
them they do hurt. 

These verses express the deadly effect of the new mode of 
warfare introduced. It was by means of these agents,— gun- 
powder, firearms, and cannon, — that Constantinople was finally 
overcome, and given into the hands of the Turks. 

In addition to the fire, smoke, and brimstone, which appar- 
ently issued out of their mouths, it is said that their power 
was also in their tails. It is a remarkable fact that the horse's 
tail is a well-known Turkish standard, a symbol of oflice and 
authority. The meaning of the expression appears to be that 
their tails were the symbol, or emblem of their authority. The 
image before the mind of John would seem to have been that 
he saw the horses belching out fire and smoke, and, what was 
equally strange, he saw that their power of spreading desola- 
tion was connected with the tails of the horses. Any one look- 
ing on a body of cavalry with such banners, or ensigns, would 
be struck with this unusual or remarkable appearance, and 
would speak of their banners as concentrating and directing 
their power. 

This supremacy of the Mohammedans over the Greeks was 
to continue, as already noticed, three hundred and ninety-one 
years and fifteen days. Commencing when the one hundred 
and fifty years ended, July 27, 1449, the period would end 
Aug. 11, 1840. Judging from the manner of the commence- 
ment of the Ottoman supremacy, that it was by a voluntary 
acknowledgment on the part of the Greek emperor that he 
reigned only by permission of the Turkish sultan, we should 
naturally conclude that the fall or departure of the Ottoman 
independence would be brought about in the same way; that at 



CHAPTER 9, VERSES 18, 19 



585 



the end of the specified period, that is, on the 11th of August, 
1840, the sultan would voluntarily surrender his independence 
into the hands of the Christian powers, just as he had, three 
hundred and ninety-one years and fifteen days before, received 
it from the hands of the Christian emperor, Constantine XIII. 

This conclusion was reached, and this application of the 
prophecy was made by Elder J. Litch in 1838, two years be- 
fore the predicted event was to occur. It was then purely a 
matter of calculation on the prophetic periods of Scripture. 
Js"ow, however, the time has passed by, and it is proper to in- 
quire what the result has been — whether such events did 
transpire according to the previous calculation. The matter 
sums itself up in the following inquiry: — 

When Did Mohammedan Independence in Constantinople 
Depart? — For several years previous to 1840, the sultan had 
been embroiled in war with Mehemet Ali, pasha of Egypt. 
In 1838 the trouble between the sultan and his Egyptian vas- 
sal was for the time being restrained by the influence of the 
foreign ambassadors. In 1839, however, hostilities were again 
commenced, and were prosecuted until, in a general battle be- 
tween the armies of the sultan and Mehemet, the sultan's army 
was entirely cut up and destroyed, and his fleet taken by Me- 
hemet and carried into Egypt. So completely had the sultan's 
fleet been reduced, that, when the war again commenced in 
August, he had only two first-rates and three frigates as the 
sad remains of the once powerful Turkish fleet. This fleet 
Mehemet positively refused to give up and return to the sul- 
tan, and declared that if the powers attempted to take it from 
him, he would burn it. In this posture affairs stood, when, in 
1810, England, Russia, Austria, and Prussia interposed, and 
determined on. a settlement of the difficulty ; for it was evident 
that, if let alone, Mehemet would soon become master of the 
sultan's throne. 

The sultan accepted this intervention of the great powers, 
and thus made a voluntary surrender of the question into their 
hands. A -conference of these powers was held in London, 
the Sheik EfTendi Bey Likgis being present as Ottoman pleni- 
potentiary. An ultimatum was drawn up to be presented to 



586 



THE REVELATION 



the pasha of Egypt, whereby the sultan was to offer him the 
hereditary government of Egypt, and all that part of Syria 
extending from the Gulf of Suez to the Lake of Tiberias, to- 
gether with the province of Acre, for life; he on his part to 
evacuate all other parts of the sultan's dominions then occupied 
by him, and to return the Ottoman fleet. In case he refused 
this offer from the sultan, the four powers were to take the 
matter into their own hands, and use such other means to bring 
him to terms as they should see fit. 

It is apparent that just as soon as this ultimatum should be 
put by the sultan into the hands of Mehemet Ali, the matter 
would, be forever beyond the control of the former, and the dis- 
posal of his affairs would, from that moment, be in the hands 
of foreign powers. The sultan despatched Rifat Bey on a 
government steamer to Alexandria, to communicate the ultima- 
tum to the pasha. It was put into his hands, and by him taken 
in charge, on the eleventli day of August, 1840 ! On the same 
day, a note was addressed by the sultan to the ambassadors of 
the four powers, inquiring what plan was to be adopted in case 
the pasha should refuse to comply with the terms of the ulti- 
matum, to which they made answer that provision had been 
made, and there ivas no necessity of his alarming himself 
about any contingency that might arise. This day the period 
of three hundred and nine-one years and fifteen days, allotted 
to the continuance of the Ottoman power, ended; and where 
was the sultan s independence? — GONE! Who had the su- 
premacy of the Ottoman empire in their hands ? — The four 
great powers; and that empire has existed ever since only by 
the sufferance of these Christian powers. Thus was the proph- 
ecy fulfilled to the very letter. 

Erom the first publication of the calculation of this matter 
in 1838, before referred to, the time set for the fulfilment of 
the prophecy — Aug. 11, 1840 — was watched by thousands 
with intense interest. And the exact accomplishment of the 
event predicted, showing, as it did, the right application of the 
prophecy, gave a mighty impetus to the great Advent move- 
ment then beginning to attract the attention of the world. 



CHAPTER 9, VERSES 20, 21 



587 



Verse 20. And the rest of the men which were not killed by these 
plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should 
not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, 
and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: 21. Neither 
repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their 
fornication, nor of their thefts. 

God designs that men shall make a note of his judgments, 
and receive the lessons he thereby designs to convey. But how 
slow are they to learn ! and how blind to the indications of 
providence ! The events that transpired under the sixth trum- 
pet constituted the second woe; yet these judgments led to no 
improvement in the manners and morals of men. Those who 
escaped them learned nothing by their manifestation in the 
earth. The worship of devils (demons, dead men deified) and 
of idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and Avood, may find a ful- 
filment in the saint worship and image worship of the Roman 
Catholic Church; while of murders, sorceries, (pretended mira- 
cles through the agency of departed saints), fornications, and 
thefts in countries wmere the Roman religion has prevailed, 
there has been no lack. 

The hordes of Saracens and Turks w T ere let loose as a scourge 
and punishment upon apostate Christendom. Men suffered the 
punishment, but learned therefrom no lesson. 




Verse 1. And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, 
clothed with a cloud : and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face 
was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire. 2. And he had 
in his hand a little book open : and he set his right foot upon the sea, 
and his left foot on the earth. 

IN" this scripture we have another instance in which the con- 
secutive line of thought is for a time interrupted; and this 
chapter comes in as — 
A Parenthetical Prophecy. — Chapter 9 closed with the events 
of the sixth trumpet. The sounding of the seventh trumpet is 
not introduced until we reach the 15th verse of chapter 11. 
The whole of chapter 10 and a portion of chapter 11, there- 
fore, come in parenthetically between the sixth and seventh 
trumpets. That which is particularly connected with the 
sounding of the sixth trumpet is recorded in chapter 9. The 
prophet has other events to introduce before the opening of 
another trumpet, and takes occasion to do it in the scripture 
which intervenes to the 15th verse of chapter 11. Among 
these is the prophecy of chapter 10. Let us first look at the 
chronology of the message of this angel. 

The Little Book. — " He had in his hand a little book open." 
There is a necessary inference to be drawn from this language, 
which is, that this book was at some time closed up. We read 
in Daniel of a book which was closed up and sealed to a cer- 
tain time : " But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal 
the book, even to the time of the end : many shall run to and fro, 
(588) 




THE ANGEL ON SEA AND LAND 

REV. 1 O : 2. 



CHAPTER 10, VERSES 1, 2 



591 



and knowledge shall be increased." Dan. 12 : 4. Since this 
book was closed up only till the time of the end, it follows 
that at the time of the end the book would be opened; and as 
this closing was mentioned in prophecy, it would be but rea- 
sonable to expect that in the jjredictions of events to take place 
at the time of the end, the opening of this book would also be 
mentioned. There is no book spoken of as closed up and sealed 
except the book of Daniel's prophecy; and there is no account 
of the opening of that book, unless it be here in the 10th of 
Revelation. We see, furthermore, that in both places the 
contents ascribed to the book are the same. The book which 
Daniel had directions to close up and seal had reference to 
time : " How long shall it be to the end of these wonders ? " 
And when the angel of this chapter comes down with the 
little book open, on which he bases his proclamation, he gives 
a message in relation to time: "Time shall be no longer." 
JSTothing more could be required to show that both expressions 
refer to one book, and to prove that the little book which the 
angel had in his hand open, was the book of the prophecy of 
Daniel. 

An important point is now determined toward settling the 
chronology of this angel; for we have seen that the prophecy, 
more particularly the prophetic periods of Daniel, were not to 
be opened till the time of the end; and if this is the book 
which the angel had in his hand open, it follows that he pro- 
claims his message this side of the time when the book should 
be opened, or somewhere this side of the commencement of the 
time of the end. All that now remains on this point is to 
ascertain when the time of the end commenced; and the book 
of Daniel itself furnishes data from which this can be done. 
In Daniel 11, from verse 30, the papal power is brought to 
view. In verse 35 we read, "And some of them of under- 
standing shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and make them 
white, even to the time of the end." Here is brought to view 
the period of the supremacy of the little horn, during which 
time the saints, times, and laws were to be given into his hand, 
and from him suffer fearful persecutions. This is declared to 
reach to the time of the end. It ended a. d. 1798, where the 



592 



THE REVELATION 



1260 years of papal rule expired. There the time of the end 
commenced, and the book was opened. And since that time, 
many have run to and fro, and knowledge on these prophetic 
subjects has marvelously increased. 

The chronology of the events of Revelation 10 is further 
ascertained from the fact that this angel is identical with the 
first angel of Revelation 14. The points of identity between 
them are easily seen: (1) They both have a special message to 
proclaim; (2) they both utter their proclamation with a loud 
voice; (3) they both use similar language, referring to the 
great Creator as the maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and 
the things that are therein; and (4) they both proclaim time, 
one swearing that time should be no more, and the other pro- 
claiming that the hour of God's judgment has come. But the 
message of Rev. 14: 6 is located this side of the commence- 
ment of the time of the end. It is a proclamation of the hour 
of God's judgment come, and hence must have its application 
in the last generation. Paul did not preach the hour of judg- 
ment come. Luther and his coadjutors did not preach it. 
Paul reasoned of a judgment to come, indefinitely future; and 
Luther placed it at least three hundred years off from his day. 
Moreover, Paul warns the church against any such preaching 
as that the hour of God's judgment has come, until a certain 
time. In 2 Thess. 2:1-3, he says : " Now we beseech you, 
brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our 
gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in 
mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by 
letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let 
no man deceive you by any means ; for that day shall not come, 
except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin he 
revealed, the son of perdition," etc. Here Paul introduces to 
our view the man of sin, the little horn, the papacy, and covers 
with a caution the whole period of his supremacy, which, as 
already noticed, continued 1260 years, ending in 1798. In 
1798, therefore, the restriction against proclaiming the day of 
Christ at hand ceased; in 1798, the time of the end com- 
menced, and the seal was taken from the little book. Since 
that period, therefore, the angel of Revelation 14 has gone 



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CHAPTER 10, VERSE 8 1 - 10 



595 



forth proclaiming the hour of God's judgment come; and it is 
since that time, too, that the angel of chapter 10 has taken his 
stand on sea and land, and sworn that time shall he no more. 
Of their identity there can now he no question; and all the 
arguments which go to locate the one, are equally effective in 
the case of the other. We need not enter into any argument 
here to show that the present generation is witnessing the ful- 
filment of these two prophecies. In the preaching of the ad- 
vent, more especially from 1840 to 1844, began their full and 
circumstantial accomplishment. The position of this angel, 
one foot upon the sea and the other on the land, denotes the 
wide extent of his proclamation by sea and by land. Had this 
message been designed for only one country, it would have 
been sufficient for the angel to take his position on the land 
only. But he has one foot upon the sea, from which we may 
infer that his message would cross the ocean, and extend to 
the various nations and divisions of the globe; and this in- 
ference is strengthened by the fact that the Advent proclama- 
tion, above referred to, did go to every missionary station in 
the world. More on this under chapter 14. 

Verse 3. And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: 
and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. 4. And 
when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to 
write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those 
things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. 

The Seven Thunders. — It would be vain to speculate to 
any great length upon the seven thunders, in hope of gaining 
a definite knowledge of what they uttered. AVe must acquiesce 
in the directions given to John concerning them, and leave 
them where he left them, sealed up, unwritten, and conse- 
quently to us unknown. There is, however, a conjecture ex- 
tant in relation to them, which may not inappropriately be 
mentioned here. It is that what the seven thunders uttered is 
the experience of the Adventists engaged in that movement, 
embracing their sore disappointment and trial. Something, 
evidently, was uttered which it would not be well for the 
church to know; and for God to have given an inspired record 
of the Advent movement in advance, would 1 have been simply 



596 



THE REVELATION 



to defeat that movement, which we verily believe was in all its 
particulars an accomplishment of his purposes, and according 
to his will. Why, then, any mention of the seven thunders at 
all ? Following out the above noticed conjecture, the conclu- 
sion would be that we, having met in our history with sudden, 
mysterious, and unexpected events, as startling and strange as 
thunders from an unclouded sky, might not give up in utter 
perplexity, inferring, as we may, that all is in the order and 
providence of God, since something of this nature was sealed 
up, and hidden from the church. 

Verse 5. And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and 
upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, 6. And sware by him that 
liveth forever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that 
therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, 
and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer. 

Time No Longer. — What is the meaning of this most sol- 
emn declaration % It cannot mean that with the message of 
this angel, time, as computed in this world, in comparison with 
eternity, should end; for the next verse speaks of the days of 
the voice of the seventh angel; and chapter 11 : 15 - 19 gives us 
some of the events to take place under this trumpet, which 
transpire in the present state. And it cannot mean probation- 
ary time; for that does not cease till Christ closes his work as 
priest, which is not till after the seventh angel has commenced 
to sound. Rev. 11 : 15, 19 ; 15 : 5 - 8. It must therefore mean 
prophetic time ; for there is no other to which it can refer. 
Prophetic time shall be no more — not that time should never 
be used in a prophetic sense ; for the " days of the voice of 
the seventh angel/ 7 spoken of immediately after, doubtless 
mean the years of the seventh angel; but no prophetic period 
should extend beyond this message; those that reach to the 
latest point would all close there. Arguments on the pro- 
phetic periods, showing that the longest ones did not extend 
beyond the autumn of 1844, will be found in remarks on 
Dan. 8:14. 

Verse 7. But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when 
he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he 
hath declared to his servants the prophets. 



CHAPTER 10, VERSE 7 



597 



The Days of the Voice of the Seventh Angel. — This sev- 
enth trumpet is not that which is spoken of in 1 Cor. 15 : 52 
as the last trump, which wakes the sleeping dead; but it is the 
seventh of the series of the seven trumpets, and like the others 
of this series, occupies days (years) in sounding. In the days 
when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God shall be fin- 
ished. Xot in the day when he shall begin to sound, not in 
the very commencement of his sounding, but in the early years 
of his sounding, the mystery of God shall be finished. 

Commencement of the Seventh Trumpet. — From the events 
to take place under the sounding of the seventh trumpet, its 
commencement may be located with sufficient definiteness at 
the close of the prophetic periods in 1844. Xot many years 
from that date, then, the mystery of God is to be finished. 
The great event, whatever it is, is right upon us. Some closing 
and decisive work, with whatever of importance and solemnity 
it bears in its train, is near at hand. There is an importance 
connected with the finishing of any of the works of God. Such 
an act marks a solemn and important era. Our Saviour, when 
expiring upon the cross, cried, " It is finished " ( John 19 : 30) ; 
and when the great work of mercy for fallen man is completed, 
it will be announced by a voice from the throne of God, pro- 
claiming, in tones which roll like thunder through all the earth, 
the solemn sentence, " It is done ! " Rev. 16:17. It is there- 
fore no uncalled-for solicitude which prompts us to inquire 
what bearing such events have upon our eternal hopes and 
interests ; and, when we read of the finishing of the mystery of 
God, to ask what that mystery is, and in what its finishing 
consists. 

The Mystery of God. — A few direct testimonies from that 
Book which has been given as a lamp to our feet, will show 
what this mystery is. Eph. 1 : 9, 10 : " Having made known 
unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure 
which he hath purposed in himself : that in the dispensation of 
the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things 
in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; 
even in him." Here God's purpose to gather together all in 
Christ is called the " mystery " of his will. This is accom- 



598 



THE REVELATION 



plished through the gospel. Eph. 6:19: "And for me [Paul 
asks that prayers be made], that utterance may be given unto 
me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the 
mystery of the gospel." Here the gospel is declared plainly 
to be a mystery. It is called in Col. 4 : 3, the mystery of 
Christ. Eph. 3 : 3, 6 : " How that by revelation he made 
known unto me the mystery (as I wrote afore in few words)," 
etc., " that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the 
same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the 
gospel." Paul here declares that the mystery was made 
known to him by revelation, as he had before written. In 
this he refers to his EjDistle to the Galatians, where he recorded 
what had been given him " by revelation," in these words: 
" But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was 
preached of me is not after man ; for I neither received it of 
man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus 
Christ/' Gal. 1 : 11, 12. Here Paul tells us plainly that 
what he received through revelation was the gospel. In Eph. 
3 : 3, he calls it the mystery made known to him by revelation, 
as he had written before. The Epistle to the Galatians was 
written in a. d. 58, and that to the Ephesians in a. d. 64. 

In view of these testimonies, few will be disposed to deny 
that the mystery of God is the gospel. It is the same, then, as 
if the angel had declared, In the days of the voice of the 
seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the gospel shall 
be finished. But what is the finishing of the gospel ? Let us 
first inquire for what it was given. It was given to take out 
from the nations a people for God's name. Acts 15 : 14. Its 
finishing must, as a matter of course, be the close of this work. 
It will be finished when the number of God's people is made 
up, mercy ceases to be offered, and probation closes. 

The subject is now before us in all its magnitude. Such is 
the momentous work to be accomplished in the early days of 
the voice of the seventh angel, whose trumpet notes have been 
reverberating through the world since the memorable epoch of 
1844. God is not slack; his work is not uncertain; are we 
ready for the issue ? 



CHA PTER 10, VERSES 8 - 10 



599 



Verse 8. And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto 
me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the 
hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. 

9. And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little 
book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall 
make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. 

10. And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up ; 
and it was in my mouth sweet as honey : and as soon as I had eaten 
it, my belly was bitter. 

In verse 8, John himself is brought in to act a part as a 
representative of the church, probably on aconnt of the suc- 
ceeding peculiar experience of the church, which the Lord of 
the prophecy would cause to be put on record, but which could 
not well be presented under the symbol of an angel. When 
only a straightforward proclamation is brought to view, with- 
out including the peculiar experience which the church is to 
pass through in connection therewith, angels may be used as 
symbols to represent the religious teachers who proclaim that 
message, as in Revelation 14 ; but when some particular expe- 
rience of the church is to be presented, the case is manifestly 
different. This could most appropriately be set forth in the 
person of some member of the human family; hence John is 
himself called upon to act a part in this symbolic representa- 
tion. And this being the case, the angel who here appeared to 
John may represent that divine messenger, who, in the order 
which is observed in all the work of God, has charge of this 
message; or he may be introduced for the purpose of repre- 
senting the nature of the message, and the source from which 
it comes. 

There are not a few now living who have in their own expe- 
rience met a striking fulfilment of these verses, in the joy with 
which they received the message of Christ's immediate second 
coming, the honey-like sweetness of the precious truths then 
brought out, and the sadness and pain that followed, when at 
the appointed time in 1844 the Lord did not come, but a great 
disappointment did. A mistake had been made which appar- 
ently involved the integrity of the little book they had been eat- 
ing. What had been so like honey to their taste, suddenly 
became like wormwood and gall. But chose who had patience 
38 . , 



600 



THE REVELATION 



to endure, so to speak, the digesting process, soon learned that 
the mistake was only in the event, not in the time, and that 
what the angel had given them was not nnto death, but to their 
nourishment and support. (See the same facts brought to 
view under a similar figure in Jer. 15:16-18.) 

Verse 11. And he said -unto me, Thou must prophesy again be- 
fore many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings. 

John, standing as the representative of the church, here re- 
ceives from the angel another commission. Another message 
is to go forth after the time when the first and second messages, 
as leading proclamations, ceased. In other words, we have 
here a prophecy of the third angel's message, now, as we be- 
lieve, in process of fulfilment. Neither will this work be done 
in a corner ; for it is to go before " many peoples, and nations, 
and tongues, and kings." (See chapter 14.) 



CHAPTEK XL 



Verse 1. And there was given me a reed like unto a rod : and the 
angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the 
altar, and them that worship therein. 2. But the court which is with- 
out the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the 
Gentiles ; and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two 
months. 

WE here have a continuation of the instruction which 
the angel commenced giving to John in the preced- 
ing chapter; hence these verses properly belong to 
that chapter, and should not be separated by the present di- 
vision. In the last verse of chapter 10, the angel gave to 
John, as a representative of the church, a new commission. 
In other words, as already shown, we have in that verse a 
prophecy of the third angel's message. Now follows testi- 
mony showing what the nature of that message is to be. It 
is connected with the temple of God in heaven, and is designed 
to fit up a class of people as worshipers therein. The temple 
here cannot mean the church ; for the church is brought to view 
in connection with this temple as " them that worship therein." 
The temple is therefore the literal temple in heaven, and the 
worshipers the true church on earth. But of course these 
worshipers are not to be measured in the sense of ascertaining 
the height and circumference of each one in feet and inches ; 
thev are to be measured as worshipers; and character can be 

(601) 



602 



THE REVELATION 



measured only by some standard of right, namely, a law, or 
rule of action. We are thus brought to the conclusion that 
the ten commandments, the standard which God has given by 
which to measure " the whole duty of man," are embraced in 
the measuring rod put by the angel into the hands of John; 
and in the fulfilment of this prophecy, this very law has been 
put, under the third message, into the hands of the church. 
This is the standard by which the worshipers of God are now 
to be tested. 

Having seen what it is to measure those who worship in 
the temple, we inquire further, What is meant by measuring 
the temple ? To measure any object requires that we give 
especial attention to that object; so, doubtless, the call to rise 
and measure the temple of God is a prophetic command to the 
church to give the subject of the temple, or sanctuary, a special 
examination. But how is this to be done with a measuring 
rod given to the church ? With the ten commandments alone 
we could not do it. When, however, we take the entire mes- 
sage, we find ourselves led by it to an examination of the 
sanctuary on high, with the commandments of God and the 
ministration of Christ connected therewith. Hence we con- 
clude that the measuring rod, taken as a whole, is the special 
message now given to the church, which embraces the great 
truths peculiar to this time, including the ten commandments. 
By this message, our attention has been called to the temple 
above, and through it the light and truth on this subject has 
come out. Thus we measure the temple and the altar, or the 
ministration connected with the temple, the work and the posi- 
tion of our great High Priest; and we measure the worship- 
ers with that portion of the rod which relates to character ; 
namely, the ten commandments, 

" But the court which is without the temple leave out." 
As much as to say, The attention of the church is now directed 
to the inner temple, and the service there. Matters pertaining 
to the court are of less consequence now. It is given to the 
Gentiles. That the court refers to this earth is proved thus : 
The court is the place where the victims were slain whose blood 
was to be ministered in the sanctuary. The antitypical victim 



CHAPTER 11, VERSES 1 - k 



60S 



must die in the antitypical court; and he died on Calvary in 
Judea. Having thus introduced the Gentiles, the attention of 
the prophet is directed to the great feature of Gentile apos- 
tasy; namely, the treading down of the holy city forty and 
two months during the period of papal supremacy. He is 
then directed to the condition of the word of God, the truth, 
and the church during that time. Thus by an easy and nat- 
ural transition, we are carried back into the past, and our 
attention is called to a new series of events. 

Verse 3. And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they 
shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed 
in sackcloth. 

These days are the same as the forty-two months of the 
preceding verse, and refer to the period of papal triumph. 
During this time, the witnesses are in a state of sackcloth, or 
obscurity, and God gives them power to endure and maintain 
their testimony through that dark and dismal period. But who 
or what are these witnesses ? 

Verse 4. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks 
standing before the God of the earth. 

Evident allusion is here made to Zech. 4: 11 - 14, where it 
is explained that the two olive trees are taken to represent the 
word of God ; and David testifies, " The entrance of thy words 
giveth light ; " and, " Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a 
light unto my path." Written testimony is stronger than oral. 
Jesus declared of the Old Testament Scriptures, " They are 
they which testify of me." In this dispensation, he says that 
his works bear witness of him. By what means do they bear 
witness of him ? Ever since those disciples who were per- 
sonally associated with him while on earth passed off the stage 
of life, his works have borne witness of him only through 
the medium of the New Testament, where alone we find 
them recorded. This gospel of the kingdom, it was once de- 
clared, shall be preached in all the world for a witness to all 
nations, etc. 

These declarations and considerations are sufficient to sus- 
tain the conclusion that the Old and New T Testaments, one given 



604 



THE REVELATION 



in one dispensation, and the other in the other, are Christ's two 

witnesses. 

Verse 5. And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of 
their mouth, and devoureth their enemies : and if any man will hurt 
them, he must in this manner be killed. 

To hurt the word of God is to oppose, corrupt, or pervert 
its testimony, and turn people away from it. Against those 
who do this work, fire proceedeth out of their mouth to devour 
them; that is, judgment of tire is denounced in that word 
against such. It declares that they will have their portion at 
last in the lake that burnetii with fire and brimstone. Mai. 
4:1; Eev. 20:15; 22:18, 19, etc. 

Verse G. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the 
days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to 
blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will. 

In what sense have these witnesses power to shut heaven, 
turn waters to blood, and bring plagues on the earth? Elijah 
shut heaven that it rained not for three years and a half; but 
he did it by the word of the Lord. Moses, by the word of the 
Lord, turned the waters of Egypt to blood. And just as these 
judgments, recorded in their testimony, have been fulfilled, so 
will every threatening and judgment denounced by them against 
any people surely be accomplished. "As often as they will." 
As often as judgments are recorded on their pages to take 
place, so often they will come to pass. An instance of this 
the world is yet to experience in the infliction of the seven 
last plagues. 

Verse 7. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the 
beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against 
them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. 8. And their dead 
bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is 
called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. 

" When they shall have finished their testimony," that is, 
" in sackcloth." The sackcloth state ended, or, as elsewhere 
expressed, the days of persecution were shortened (Matt. 24: 
22), before the period itself expired. A " beast " in prophecy, 
denotes a kingdom, or power. (See Dan. 7:17, 23.) The 



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CHAPTER 11, VERSE 7 



607 



question now arises, When did the 1260-year period of the 
witnesses close ? and did such a kingdom as described make 
war on them at the time sjDoken of \ If we are correct in 
fixing upon a. n. 538 as the time of the commencement of 
the papal supremacy, the forty-two months being 1260 pro- 
phetic days, or years, would bring us down to a. d. 1798. 
About this time, then, did such a kingdom as described ap- 
pear, and make war on them, etc \ Mark ! this beast, or king- 
dom, is out of the bottomless pit ; it has no foundation, is an 
atheistical power, is " spiritually Egypt." (See Ex. 5:2 : 
"And Pharoah said, Who is the Lord, that I should obey 
his voice to let Israel go ? I know not the Lord, neither 
will I let Israel go.") Here is atheism. Did any kingdom, 
about 1798 manifest the same spirit? — Yes, Erance; in her 
national capacity she denied the being of God, and made war 
on the " Monarchy of heaven." 

" Spiritually " this power " is called Sodom." What 
was the characteristic sin of Sodom? — Licentiousness. Did 
Erance have this character? — She did; fornication was es- 
tablished by law during the period spoken of. " Spiritually" 
the place was " where our Lord was crucified." Was this 
true in France ? — It was, in more senses than one. A plot 
was laid in Erance to destroy all the pious Huguenots; and 
in one night (Aug. 21, 25, 1572) fifty thousand of them 
were murdered in cold blood, and the streets of Paris liter- 
ally ran with blood. Thus our Lord was " spiritually cru- 
cified " in his members. Again, the watchword and motto 
of the French infidels was, " CKUSH THE WEETCH," 
meaning Christ. Thus it may be truly said, " Where our 
Lord was crucified." The very spirit of the " bottomless pit " 
was poured out in that wicked nation. 

But did France " make war" on the Bible? — She did; 
and in 1793 a decree passed the French Assembly forbidding 
the Bible ; and under that decree, the Bibles were gathered 
and burned, every possible mark of contempt was heaped upon 
them, and all the institutions of the Bible were abolished; the 
weekly rest-day was blotted out, and every tenth day substi- 
tuted, for mirth and profanity. Baptism and the communion 



608 



THE REVELATION 



were abolished. The being of God was denied, and death 
pronounced an eternal sleep. The Goddess of Reason, in the 
person of a vile woman, was set up, and publicly worshiped. 
Surely here is a power that exactly answers the prophecy. 
But let us examine this point still further. 

Verse 9. And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and 
nations shall see their dead bodies three days and a half, and shall 
not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. 

The language of this verse describes the feelings of other 
nations besides the one committing the outrage on the wit- 
nesses. They would see what war infidel France had made 
on the Bible, but would not be led nationally to engage in the 
wicked work, nor suffer the murdered witnesses to be buried, 
or put out of sight among themselves, though they lay dead 
three days and a half, that is, three years and a half, in 
France. JSTo; this very attempt on the part of France served 
to arouse Christians everywhere to put forth new exertions 
in behalf of the Bible, as we shall presently see. 

Verse 10. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over 
them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because 
these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. 

This denotes the joy those felt who hated the Bible, or 
were tormented by it. Great was the joy of infidels every- 
where for awhile. But the " triumphing of the wicked is 
short ; " so was it in France, for their war on the Bible and 
Christianity well-nigh swallowed them all up. They set out 
to destroy Christ's " two witnesses/' but they filled France 
with blood and terror, so that they were horror-struck at the 
result of their own wicked deeds, and were soon glad to re- 
move their impious hands from the Bible. 

Verse' 1 1. And after three days and a half the Spirit of life from 
God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great 
fear fell upon them which saw them. 

In 1793, a decree passed the French Assembly suppressing 
the Bible. Just three years after, a resolution was introduced 
into the Assembly superseding the decree, and giving toleration 
to the Scriptures. That resolution lay on the table six months, 



CHAPTER 11, VERSES 11, i£ 



609 



when it was taken up, and passed without a dissenting vote. 
Thus, in just three years and a half, the witnesses " stood 
upon their feet, and great fear fell upon them which saw them." 
Nothing but the appalling results of the rejection of the Bible 
could have induced France to take her hands off these witnesses. 

Verse 12. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto 
them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; 
and their enemies beheld them. 

"Ascended up to Heaven/' — To understand this expres- 
sion, see Dan. 4:22: " Thy greatness is grown, and reach- 
eth unto heaven/' Here we see that the expression signifies 
great exaltation. Have the Scriptures attained to such a state 
of exaltation as here indicated, since France made war upon 
them ? — They have. Shortly after, the British Bible Society 
was organized (1804) ; then followed the American Bible So- 
ciety (1817) ; and these, with their almost innumerable auxili- 
aries, are scattering the Bible everywhere. Since that period, 
the Bible has been translated into nearly two hundred different 
languages that it was never in before ; and the improvements 
in paper-making and printing within the last seventy-five years 
have given an impetus to the work of scattering Bibles which 
is without a parallel. 

The Bible has been sent to the destitute, literally by ship- 
loads. One vessel carried out from England fifty-nine tons of 
Bibles for the emancipated slaves in the West Indies. The 
Bible has risen to be respected by almost every one, whether 
saint or sinner. Within the last century, translations of 
the Scriptures have increased fivefold, and the circulation of 
the Scriptures thirtyfold. 1 No other book approaches it in 
cheapness or number of copies sold. According to the Mis- 
sionary Review of September, 1896, it has been translated 
into languages embracing nine tenths of the human race. 
And the American Bible Society, in its eightieth annual re- 
port, dated May, 1896, gives the number of Bibles and parts 
of Bibles issued by that society alone, as 61,705,841. Add 
the issues by the British Bible Society and other publishers, 



1 Increase of Crime, by D. T. Taylor, p. 5. 



610 



THE REVELATION 



and how vastly would the number be increased! What other 
book has the world ever seen which approaches the Bible in 
this respect ? It is exalted as above all price, as, next to his 
Son, the most invaluable blessing of God to man, and as the 
glorious testimony concerning that Son. Yes; the Scriptures 
may truly be said to be exalted " to heaven in a cloud," a 
cloud being an emblem of heavenly elevation. 

Verse 13. And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and 
the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of 
men seven thousand : and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory- 
to the God of heaven. 

What city ? (See chapter 17 : 18 : "And the woman which 
thou sawest is that great city which reigneth over the kings 
[kingdoms] of the earth. 7 ') That city is the papal Roman 
power. France is one of the "ten horns " that gave " their 
power and strength unto the [papal'] beast ; " or is one of the 
ten kingdoms that arose out of the Western Empire of Rome, 
as indicated by the ten toes of Nebuchadnezzar's image, the 
ten horns of Daniel's beast (Dan. 7 : 24), and John's dragon. 
Rev. 12 : 3. France, then, was " a tenth part of the city," 
and was one of the strongest ministers of papal vengeance; 
but in this revolution it " fell," and with it fell the last civil 
messenger of papal fury. "And in the earthquake were slain 
of men [margin, names of men, or titles of men] seven thou- 
sand." France made war, in her revolution of 1793 - 98 and 
onward, on all titles of nobility. It is said by those who have 
examined the French records, that just seven thousand titles 
of men were abolished in that revolution. "And the remnant 
were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven." Their 
God-dishonoring and Heaven-defying work filled France with 
such scenes of blood, carnage, and horror, as made even the 
infidels themselves tremble, and stand aghast ; and the " rem- 
nant " that escaped the horrors of that hour " gave glory to 
God " — not willingly, but the God of heaven caused this 
" wrath of man to praise him," by causing all the world to 
see that those who make war on heaven make graves for them- 
selves; thus glory redounded to God by the very means that 
wicked men employed to tarnish that glory. 



CHAPTER 11, VERSES 13 - 17 



611 



For the statistics and many of the foregoing thoughts on 
the two witnesses, we are indebted to an exposition of the 
subject of The Two Witnesses, by the late George Storrs. 

Verse 14. The second woe is past ; and, behold, the third woe Com- 
eth quickly. 

The series of seven trumpets is here again resumed. The 
second woe ended with the sixth trumpet, Aug. 11, 1810 ; and 
the third woe occurs under the sounding of the seventh trum- 
pet, which commenced in 1844. 

Then where are w r e ? " Behold ! " that is to say, mark it 
well, ■" the third woe cometh quickly.'' The fearful scenes of 
the second woe are past, and we are now under the sounding 
of the trumpet that brings the third and last woe. And shall 
we now look for peace and safety, a temporal millennium, a 
thousand years of righteousness and prosperity ? Rather let 
us earnestly pray the Lord to awaken a slumbering world. 

Verse 15. And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great 
voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the 
kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ ; and he shall reign forever 
and ever. 16. And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God 
on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshiped God, 17. Saying, 
We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, 
and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, 
and hast reigned. 

From the 15th verse to the end of the chapter, we seem to 
be carried over the ground, from the sounding of the seventh 
angel to the end, three distinct times. In the verses last 
quoted, the prophet glances forward to the full establishment 
of the kingdom of God. Although the seventh trumpet has 
begun to sound, it may not yet be a fact that the great voices 
in heaven have proclaimed that the kingdoms of this world 
are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, ex- 
cept it be in anticipation of the speedy accomplishment of 
this event; but the seventh trumpet, like the preceding six, 
covers a period of time: and the transfer of the kingdoms 
from earthly powers to Him whose right it is to reign, is the 
principal event to occur in the early years of its sounding; 
hence this event, to the exclusion of all else, here engages the 



612 



THE REVELATION 



mind of the prophet. (See remarks on verse 19.) In the 
next verse John goes back and takes up intervening events 
as follows: — 

Verse 18. And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, 
and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou 
shouldst give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the 
saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldst 
destroy them which destroy the earth. 

" The Nations Were Angry/' — Commencing with the won- 
derful revolution in Europe in 1848, that spontaneous outburst 
of violence among the nations, their anger toward one another, 
their jealousy and envy, have been constantly increasing. Al- 
most every paper shows the fearful degree to which they are 
now excited, and how tense has become the strain on the re- 
lations between them. 

"And Thy Wrath Is Come/' — The wrath of God for the 
present generation is filled up in the seven last plagues (chap- 
ter 15: 1), which consequently must here be referred to, and 
which are soon to be poured out upon the earth. 

The Judgment of the Dead. — "And the time of the dead, 
that they should be judged." The great majority of the dead, 
that is, the wicked, are still in their graves after the visitation 
of the plagues, and the close of this dispensation. A work of 
judgment, of allotting to each one the punishment due to his 
crimes, is carried on in reference to them by the saints, in 
conjunction with Christ, during the one thousand years fol- 
lowing the first resurrection. 1 Cor. 6:2; Rev. 20:4. In- 
asmuch as this judgment of the dead follows the wrath of 
God, or the seven last plagues, it would seem necessary to refer 
it to the "one thousand years of judgment upon the wicked, 
above mentioned; for the investigative judgment takes place 
before the plagues are poured out. 

The Reward- of the Righteous. — "And that thou shouldst 
give reward unto thy servants the prophets." This carries us 
forward to the full possession of the heavenly inheritance at 
the end of the thousand years ; for the full reward of the 
saints is not reached till they enter upon the possession of 
the new earth. Matt. 25 : 34. 



THE BERLIN INSURRECTION OF 1848 



CHAPTER 11, VERSES 18, 19 



615 



The Punishment of the Wicked. — "And shouldst destroy 
them which destroy the earth," referring to the time when all 
the wicked will be forever devoured by those purifying fires 
which come down from God out of heaven upon them, and 
which melt and renovate the earth. 2 Peter 3:7; Rev. 20 : 9. 
By this we learn that the seventh trumpet reaches over to the 
end of the one thousand years. Momentous, startling, but yet 
joyous thought ! that the trumpet is now sounding which is to 
see the final destruction of the wicked, and to behold the saints, 
clothed in a glorious immortality, safely located on the earth 
made new. 

Once more the prophet carries us back to the commence- 
ment of the trumpet, in the following language : — 

Verse 19. And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there 
was seen in his temple the ark of his testament : and there were 
lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and 
great hail. 

Having introduced the seventh trumpet in verse 15, the 
first great event that strikes the mind of the seer is the trans- 
fer of the kingdom from earthly to heavenly rule. God takes 
to him his great power, and forever crushes the rebellion of 
this revolted earth, establishes Christ upon his own throne, 
and remains himself supreme over all. This picture being 
completed, we are pointed back, in verse 18, to the state of 
the nations, the judgment to fall upon them, and the final 
destiny of both saints and sinners. This field of vision hav- 
ing been scanned, we are taken back once more in the verse 
now under notice, and our attention is called to the close of 
the priesthood of Christ, the last scene in the work of mercy 
for a guilty world. The temple is opened; the second apart- 
ment of the sanctuary is entered. We know it is the holy of 
holies that is here opened, for the ark is seen; and in that 
apartment alone the ark was deposited. This took place at 
the end of the 2300 days, when the sanctuary was to be 
cleansed, the time when the prophetic periods expired, and the 
seventh angel commenced to sound. Since that time, the peo- 
ple of God have seen by faith the open door in heaven, and 
39 



616 



THE REVELATION 



the ark of God's testament there. They are endeavoring to 
keep every precept of the holy law written npon the tables 
therein deposited. And that the tables of the law are there, 
jnst as in the ark in the sanctuary erected by Moses, is evi- 
dent from the terms which John uses in describing the ark. 
He calls it the " ark of his testament." The ark was called 
the ark of the covenant, or testament, because it Avas made 
for the express purpose of containing the tables of the testi- 
mony, or ten commandments. Ex. 25:16; 31:18; Deut. 10 : 
2, 5. It was put to no other use, and owed its name solely 
to the fact that it contained the tables of the law. If the 
tables were not therein, it would not be the ark of his (God's) 
testament, and could not truthfully be so called. Yet John, 
beholding the ark in heaven under the sounding of the seventh 
trumpet, still calls it the " ark of his testament," affording 
unanswerable proof that the law is still there, unaltered in 
one jot or tittle from the copy which for a time was committed 
to the care of men in the typical ark of the tabernacle during 
the Mosaic dispensation. 

The followers of the prophetic word have also received the 
reed, and are measuring the temple, the altar, and them that 
worship therein. Yerse 1. They are uttering their last proph- 
ecy before nations, peoples, and tongues. Chapter 10 : 11. 
And the drama will soon close with the lightnings, thunder- 
ings, voices, the earthquake, and great hail, which will consti- 
tute nature's last convulsion before all things are made new 
at the close of the thousand years. Rev. 21:5. (See on 
chapter 16 : 17 - 21.) 




THE GOSPEL CHURCH 

R EV. 12:1. 




CHAPTEK XII. 

Verse 1. And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman 
clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head 
a crown of twelve stars : 2. And she being with child cried, travailing 
in birth, and pained to be delivered. 3. And there appeared another 
wonder in heaven ; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads 
and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. 

AN elucidation of this portion of the chapter will in- 
volve little more than a mere definition of the sym- 
bols introduced. This may be given in few words, as 
follows : — 

"A woman," the true church. A corrupt woman is used 
to represent an apostate or corrupt church. Eze. 23:2-4; 
Rev. 17 : 3 - 6, 15, 18. By parity of reasoning, a pure woman, 
as in this instance, would represent the true church. 

" The sun," the light and glory of the gospel dispensation. 

" The moon," the Mosaic dispensation. As the moon 
shines with a borrowed light derived from the sun, so the 
former dispensation shone with a light borrowed from the 
present. There they had the type and shadow; here we have 
the antitype and substance. 

"A crown of twelve stars," the twelve apostles. 

"A great red dragon," pagan Rome. (See under verses 
4 and 5.) 

(619) 



620 



THE REVELATION 



" Heaven/ 7 the space in which this representation was seen 
by the apostle. We are not to suppose that the scenes here 
represented to John took place in heaven where God resides; 
for they are events which transpired upon this earth; but this 
scenic representation which passed before the eye of the prophet, 
appeared as if in the region occupied by the sun, moon, and 
stars, which we speak of as heaven. 

Verses 1 and 2 cover a period of time commencing just 
previous to the opening of the present dispensation, when the 
church was earnestly longing for and expecting the advent of 
the Messiah, and extending to the time of the full establish- 
ment of the gospel church with its crown of twelve apostles. 
Luke 2:25, 26, 38. 

~No symbols more fitting and impressive could be found 
than are here employed. The Mosaic dispensation shone with 
a light borrowed from the Christian dispensation, just as the 
moon shines with light borrowed from the sun. How appro- 
priate, therefore, to represent the former by the moon, and the 
latter by the sun. The woman, the church, had the moon 
under her feet; that is, the Mosaic dispensation had just 
ended, and the woman was clothed with the light of the gospel 
sun, which had just risen. By the figure of prolepsis, the 
church is represented as fully organized, with its twelve apos- 
tles, before the man-child, Christ, appeared upon the scene. 
This is easily accounted for by the fact that it was to be thus 
constituted immediately after Christ should commence his min- 
istry; and he is more especially connected with this church 
than with that of the former dispensation. There is no 
ground for any misunderstanding of the passage ; and hence 
no violence is done to a correct system of interpretation by 
this representation. 

Verse 4. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, 
and did cast them to the earth; and the dragon stood before the 
woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as 
soon as it was born. 5. And she brought forth a man-child, who was 
to rule all nations with a rod of iron : and her child was caught up 
unto God, and to his throne. 6. And the woman fled into the wilder- 
ness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed 
her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. 



CHAPTER 12, VERSES k - 0 



621 



" The Third Part of the Stars of Heaven." — The dragon 
drew the third part of the stars from heaven. If the twelve 
stars with which the woman is crowned, here used symbolically, 
denote the twelve apostles, then the stars thrown down by the 
dragon before his attempt to destroy the man-child, or before 
the Christian era, may denote a portion of the rulers of the 
Jewish people. That the sun, moon, and stars are sometimes 
used in this symbolic sense, we have already had evidence in 
chapter 8 : 12. The dragon, being a symbol, could deal only 
with symbolic stars; and the chronology of the act here men- 
tioned would confine it to the Jewish people. Judea became 
a Roman province sixty-three years before the birth of the 
Messiah. The Jews had three classes of rulers, — kings, 
priests, and the Sanhedrim. A third of these, the kings, 
were taken away by the Roman power. Philip Smith, His- 
tory of the World, Vol. Ill, p. 181, after describing the siege 
of Jerusalem by the Romans and Herod, and its capitulation 
in the spring of b. c. 37, after an obstinate resistance of six 
months, says: " Such was the end of the Asmonean dynasty, 
exactly 130 years after the first victories of Judas Maccabams, 
and in the seventieth year from the assumption of the diadem 
by Aristobulus I." 

The dragon stood before the woman to devour her child. 
It now becomes necessary to identify the power symbolized by 
the dragon ; and this can very easily be done. The testimony 
concerning the " man-child " which the dragon seeks to de- 
stroy, is applicable to only one being that has appeared in this 
world, and that is our Lord Jesus Christ. Xo other one has 
been caught up to God and his throne; but he has been thus 
exalted. Eph. 1 : 20, 21 ; Heb. 8:1; Rev. 3 : 21. iv T o other 
one has received from God the commission to rule all nations 
with a rod of iron; but he has been appointed to this work. 
Ps. 2:7-9. 

There can certainly be no doubt that the man-child repre- 
sents Jesus Christ. The time to which the prophecy refers is 
equally evident. It was the time when Christ appeared in 
this world as a babe in Bethlehem. 

Having now ascertained who the man-child was, namely, 



622 



THE REVELATION 



Christ ; and having fixed the chronology of the prophecy at the 
time when he was born into this world, it will be easy to find 
the power symbolized by the dragon ; for the dragon represents 
some power which did attempt to destroy him at his birth- 
Was any such attempt made ? and who made it % ~No formal 
answer to this question need be given to any one who has read 
how Herod, in a fiendish effort to destroy the infant Jesus, 
sent forth and slew all the children in Bethlehem, from two 
years old and under. But who was Herod ? — A Roman gov- 
ernor. From Rome Herod derived his power. Rome ruled 
at that time over all the world (Luke 2:1), and was there- 
fore the responsible party in this transaction. Moreover, Rome 
was the only earthly government which at that time could be 
symbolized in prophecy, for this very reason that its dominion 
was universal. It is not, therefore, without the most conclu- 
sive reason that the Roman empire is considered by Protestant 
commentators generally to be the power indicated by the great 
red dragon. And it may be a fact worth mentioning that 
during the second, third, fourth, and fifth centuries of the 
Christian era, next to the eagle the dragon was the principal 
standard of the Roman legions ; and that dragon was painted 
red, as though, in faithful response to the picture held up by 
the seer of Patmos, they would exclaim to the world, We are 
the nation which that picture represents. 

As we have said, Rome, in the person of Herod, attempted 
to destroy Jesus Christ, when he sent forth and destroyed all 
the children of Bethlehem from two years old and under. 
The child which was born to the expectant desires of a wait- 
ing and watching church, was our adorable Redeemer, who is 
soon to rule the nations with a rod of iron. Herod could not 
destroy him; the combined powers of earth and hell could not 
overcome him; and though held for a time under the domin- 
ion of the grave, he rent its cruel bands, opened a way of 
life for mankind, and was caught up to G-od and his throne, 
or ascended up to heaven in the sight of his disciples, leaving 
to them, by the words of the angels, this sweetest of all prom- 
ises, that like as he was taken away from them, so he would 
come again. 



CHAPTER 12, VERSES 4 - 12 



625 



And the church fled into the wilderness at the time the 
papacy was established, in 538, where it was nourished by the 
word of God and the ministration of angels during the long, 
dark, and bloody rule of that power, 1260 years. 

Verse 7. And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels 
fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8. 
And prevailed not ; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 
9. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the 
devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out 
into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 10. And I 
heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and 
strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ : 
for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them be- 
fore our God day and night. 11. And they overcame him by the 
blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony ; and they loved 
not their lives unto the death. 12. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, 
and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and 
of the sea ! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, 
because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. 

The first six verses of this chapter, as has been seen, take 
us down to the close of the 1260 years, which marked the 
end of the papal supremacy in 1798. In the 7th verse it is 
equally plain that we are carried back into previous ages. 
How far ? — To the time first introduced in the chapter, — ■ 
the days of the first advent. "And there was war in heaven," 
the same heaven where the woman and the dragon were seen 
at first; but they were actors in scenes that took place here 
upon the earth ; hence we understand this war to be located 
in the same place. And to what point are we carried back ? 
— Evidently to the commencement of Christ's ministry here 
upon earth. To prove that Michael is Christ, see Jude 9 ; 
1 Thess. 4:16; John 5:28, 29; and that this was a special 
time of warfare between him and Satan need not be argued. 

Another symbol is here introduced, and John hastens to 
tell us what this symbol represents. It is the devil and Satan. 
But this is not the same as the dragon of verses 3 and 4. That 
was a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and 
seven crowns upon his heads. It would be most grotesque to 
try to apply this to Satan personally. Satan is not said any- 
where in the Bible to be red, and he is not blessed with the 



626 



THE REVELATION 



number of heads and horns there stated ; and while he might, 
as the god of this world, have one crown, how would he man- 
age to wear seven ? But all these features are very appro- 
priate as applied to pagan Rome. 

When it is desired to set forth Satan by a symbol, no more 
appropriate one can be chosen than a great dragon, or serpent, 
unqualified. And why a similar symbol is also employed to 
represent Rome with some of its peculiar features, is evident. 
It was because Rome, as a universal empire, was then the only 
possible general agent to carry out Satan's will in the earth. 
But there is no occasion to confound the two symbols. 

In reference to the war mentioned, Satan had looked for- 
ward to Christ's mission to this earth as his last chance of 
success in overthrowing the plan of salvation. He came to 
Christ with specious temptations, in hope of overcoming him; 
he tried in various ways to destroy him during his ministry; 
and when he had succeeded in laying him in the tomb, he 
endeavored, in malignant triumph, to hold him there. But 
in every encounter the Son of God came off triumphant; and 
he sends back this gracious promise to his faithful followers : 
" To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my 
throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my 
Father in his throne." This shows us that Jesus while on 
earth waged a warfare, and obtained the victory. Satan saw 
his last effort fail, his last scheme miscarry. He had boasted 
that he would overcome the Son of God in his mission to this 
world, and thus render the plan of salvation an ignominious 
failure; and well he knew that if he was foiled in this his 
last desperate effort to thwart the work of God, his last hope 
had perished, and all was lost. (See Spiritual Gifts, Vol. 
I, p. 67.) 

But, in the language of verse 8, he " prevailed not ; " and 
hence the song may well be sung, " Therefore rejoice, ye 
heavens, and ye that dwell in them." 

It is held by some that this war took place when Satan, 
then an angel of light and glory, rebelled in heaven ; and that 
the " casting out " of which John speaks, was his expulsion 
from heaven at that time. But we are unable to harmonize 



CHAPTER 12, VERSES 7 - 12 



627 



this view with the testimony before us. Thus, in verse 13 we 
read: "And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the 
earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man- 
child." This shows that just as soon as the devil saw that he 
was cast out, he turned his wrath against the woman, the 
church, which, not far from that time, fled into the wilder- 
ness. When Satan therefore found himself thus overthrown, 
the man-child had already been brought forth, or, in other 
words, the first advent of Christ had taken place. Hence this 
war and defeat of Satan, taking place this side of the Chris- 
tian era, and not a great length of time before the church went 
into the wilderness in 538, cannot be his fall from heaven be- 
fore the creation of the world; though that was a war in 
heaven. 

Again, there seem to be a number of instances in which 
Satan is spoken of as defeated, or cast down. One was his 
first rejection from heaven; another, when Christ overcame 
him at his first advent; and there will be another in the fu- 
ture, when he is cast into the bottomless pit, and shut up for 
a thousand years. And on each successive occasion, we behold 
a regularly increasing limitation of his power. He falls a 
degree lower in every succeeding combat. The first time, as 
we may plainly infer from certain scriptures, 'the contest was 
between him and God the Father (see 2 Peter 2:4); the sec- 
ond time between him and Christ the Son, as in the scripture 
before us ; while the third time an angel suffices to accomplish 
the work of his humiliation. Rev. 20:1, 2. Since his first 
contest, he has not been permitted to rise to the dignity of 
contending with the Father; since the second, he has not had 
the privilege, if such it may be called, of a personal encounter 
with the Son. The war mentioned in the scripture now before 
us is between the devil and Michael, Christ. The great effort 
of the former against the latter, personally, was during his 
mission here on earth ; and Christ's great personal victory over 
him was in that very contest. 

" Neither was their place found any more in heaven." 
Heaven, we have seen, does not mean, in this chapter, the 
place which is the abode of God and his celestial messengers. 



628 



THE REVELATION 



It here douotiess denotes condition rather than place; and the 
expression would then signify that they were here humiliated, 
and never to regain their former position. They had suffered 
a terrible defeat, which Christ describes by saying, " I beheld 
Satan as lightning fall from heaven." The hope which he 
had all along cherished, of overcoming the Son of man when 
he took upon himself our nature, had forever perished. His 
power was limited. He could no more aspire to a personal 
encounter with the Son of God,— a fact which hitherto had 
given, in a comparative degree, dignity and prestige to his 
position. Henceforth the church (the woman) is the object 
of his malice, and he resorts to all those nefarious means 
against her that would naturally characterize a baffled and 
hopeless rage. (See Spiritual Gifts, Vol. 1, p. 79.) 

But hereupon a song is sung in heaven, " Now is come 
salvation," etc. How is this, if these scenes are in the past ? 
Had salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of God, and 
the power of his Christ, then come ? — Not at all ; but this 
song was sung prospectively. Those things were made sure. 
The great victory had been won by Christ which put the 
question of their establishment forever at rest. Just as we 
read in other scriptures, " We have eternal life," " We have 
redemption through his blood," etc., as if we were now in 
actual possession of these blessings ; whereas we only have 
them by faith, and the language is simply an assurance that 
they are forever sure to the final overcomers. 

The prophet then glances rapidly over the working of Satan 
from that time to the end (verses 11, 12), during which time 
the faithful " brethren " overcome him by the blood of the 
Lamb and the word of their testimony while his wrath in- 
creases as his time grows short. Though working through 
earthly powers, Satan, personally, is the chief agent from 
verses 9 to 17. 

Verse 13. And when the dragon saw that he was cast nnto the 
earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man-child. 
14. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that 
she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nour- 
ished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the 
serpent. 15. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood 



CHAPTER 12, VERSES 13 - 17 



631 



after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the 
flood. 16. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her 
mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his 
mouth. IT. And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to 
make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the command- 
ments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. 

But little comment is necessary on the verses last intro- 
duced. Suffice it to sav that here we are again carried back 
to the time when Satan became fully aware that he had utterly 
failed in all his attempts against the Lord of glory in his 
earthly mission; and seeing this, he turned with tenfold fury, 
as already noticed, upon the church which Christ had estab- 
lished. Then we have again brought to view the church going 
into that condition here denominated being " in the wilder- 
ness.' 7 This must denote a state of seclusion from the public 
gaze, and of concealment from her foes. That church which 
during all the dark ages trumpeted her lordly commands into 
the ears of listening Christendom, and flaunted her ostenta- 
tious banners before gaping crowds, was not the church of 
Christ ; it was the body of the mystery of iniquity. The 
" mystery of godliness " was God manifested here as a man ; 
the " mystery of iniquity " was a man pretending to be God. 
This was the great apostasy, the mongrel produced by the 
union of heathenism and Christianity. The true church was 
out of sight; in secret places they worshiped God; the caves 
and the hidden recesses of the valleys of the Piedmont may 
be taken as representative places, where the truth of the gospel 
was sacredly cherished from the rage of its foes. Here God 
watched over his church, and by his providence protected and 
nourished her. 

The eagles' wings given her appropriately signify the haste 
with which the true church was obliged to provide for her own 
safety when the man of sin was installed in power, together 
with the assistance God provided her to this end. The like 
figure is used to describe God's dealings with ancient Israel. 
By Moses he said to them : " Ye have seen what I did unto 
the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and 
brought you unto myself." Ex. 19:4. 
40 



632 



THE REVELATION 



The mention of the period during which the woman is nour- 
ished in the wilderness as " a time and times and half a time/' 
the exact phraseology used in Dan. 7 : 25, furnishes a key for 
the explanation of the latter passage; for the very same period 
is called in verse 6 of Revelation 12, " a thousand two hundred 
and threescore days." This shows that a " time " is one year, 
360 days; two " times/' two years, or 720 days; and " half 
a time/' half a year, or 180 days, making in all 1260 days; 
and this being symbolic, signifies 1260 literal years. 

The serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood to carry 
away the church. By its false doctrines the papacy had so 
corrupted all nations as to have control absolutely, for long 
centuries, of the civil power. Through it Satan could hurl a 
mighty flood of persecution against the church in every direc- 
tion; and this he was not sIoav to do. (See reference to the 
terrible persecutions of the church "in remarks on Dan. 7: 25.) 
From fifty to one hundred million were carried away by the 
flood ; but the church was not entirely swallowed up ;' the days 
were shortened for the elect's sake. Matt. 24 : 22. 

" The earth helped the woman " by opening its mouth and 
swallowing up the flood. The Reformation of the sixteenth 
century began its work. God raised up the noble Luther and 
his colaborers to expose the true character of the papacy, and 
break the power with which superstition had enslaved the 
minds of the people. Luther nailed his theses to the door of 
the church at Wittenberg; and the pen with which he wrote 
them, according to the symbolic dream of the good elector 
Frederick of Saxony, did indeed span the continent, and shake 
the triple crown on the pope's head. Princes began to espouse 
the cause of the Reformers. It was the dawning of religious 
light and liberty, and God would not suffer the darkness to swal- 
low up its radiance. Tetzel, the indulgence-peddler, swelled 
and bellowed with wrath, and Pope Leo roared with rage; but 
all in vain. The spell was broken. Men found that the bulls 
and anathemas of the pope fell harmless at their feet, just as 
soon as they dared exercise their God-given right to regulate 
their consciences by his word alone. Defenders of the true 



EMINENT REFORMERS 

Men icho have been prominent in advancing the work of God. 
For biographical sketches, see Appendix. 



CHAPTER 12, VERSES 13-17 



635 



faith multiplied. And soon there was enough Protestant soil 
found in Switzerland, Germany, Holland, England, Norway, 
and Siveden, to swallow up the flood of papal fury, and rob 
it of its power to harm the church. Thus the earth helped 
the woman, and has continued to help to the present day, as 
the spirit of the Reformation and religious liberty has been 
fostered by the leading nations of Christendom. 

But the dragon is not yet through with his work. Verse 
17 brings to view another and a final outburst of his wrath, 
this time against the last generation of Christians to live on 
the earth. We say the last generation; for the war of the 
dragon is directed against the remnant of the woman's seed; 
that is, the remnant of the seed, or individuals, that constitute 
the true church; and no generation but the last can truthfully 
be represented by the remnant. If the view is correct that 
we have already reached the generation which is to witness 
the closing up of earthly scenes, this warfare against the truth 
cannot be far in the future. 

This remnant is characterized by the keeping of the com- 
mandments of God, and having the testimony of Jesus Christ. 
This points to a Sabbath reform to be accomplished in the last 
'days ; for on the Sabbath alone, as pertaining to the command- 
ments, is there a difference of faith and practice among those 
who accept the decalogue as the moral law. This is more par- 
ticularly brought to view in the message of Rev. 14 : 9-12. 

It may be proper to notice that according to the testimony 
of this chapter, three powers are made use of by the devil to 
carry out his work, and hence all are spoken of as the dragon, 
he being the inspiring agent in them all. These are, (1) 
pagan Rome; (2) papal Rome; (3) the two-horned beast, our 
own government under the control of apostate Protestantism, 
which is the chief agent, as will hereafter appear, in making 
war upon those who keep the commandments of God and have 
the testimony of Jesus. 




having seven heads and ten horns, and upon 
his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 
2. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet 
were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion : and 
the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. 3. 
And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his 
deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the 
beast. 4. And they worshiped the dragon which gave power unto the 
beast: and they worshiped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the 
beast ? Who is able to make war with him ? 5. And there was given 
unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies ; and power 
was given unto him to continue forty and two months. 6. And he 
opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, 
and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. 7. And it was 
given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: 
and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. 
8. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names 
are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the founda- 
tion of the world. 9. If any man have an ear, let him hear. 10. He 
that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with 
the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and 
the faith of the saints. 

THE sea is a symbol of " peoples, and multitudes, and 
nations, and tongues." Kev. 17 : 15. A beast is the 
Bible symbol of an unrighteous nation, or power, rep- 
resenting sometimes the civil power alone, sometimes the eccle- 
siastical in connection with the civil. Whenever a beast is 
seen to come up out of the sea, it denotes that the power arises 
in a thickly populated territory; and if the winds are repre- 
sented as blowing upon the sea, as in Dan. 7:2, 3, political 
commotion, civil strife, and revolution are indicated. 
(636) 



CHAPTER IS, VERSES 1 - 10 



637 



By the dragon of the previous chapter, and the beast first 
introduced in this, we have the Roman power as a whole 
brought to view in its two phases, pagan and papal; hence 
these two symbols have each the seven heads and ten horns. 
(See on chapter 17:10.) 

The seven-headed and ten-horned beast, or, more briefly, 
the leopard beast, here introduced, symbolizes a power which 
exercises ecclesiastical as well as civil authority. This point 
is of sufficient importance to justify the introduction of a few 
of the conclusive arguments which go to prove it. 

The line of prophecy in which this symbol occurs com- 
mences with chapter 12. The symbols of earthly govern- 
ments embraced in the prophecy are, the dragon of chapter 
12, and the leopard beast and two-horned beast of chapter 13. 
The same line of prophecy evidently continues into chapter 
14, closing with verse 5 of that chapter. Commencing, there- 
fore, with verse 1 of chapter 12, and ending with verse 5 
of chapter 11, we have a line of profthecy distinct and com- 
plete in itself. 

Each of the powers here introduced is represented as 
fiercely persecuting the church of God. The scene opens 
with the church, under the symbol of a woman, anxiously 
longing for the promise to be fulfilled that the seed of the 
woman, the Lord of glory, should appear among men. The 
dragon stood before the woman for the purpose of devouring 
her child. His evil design is thwarted, and the child is 
caught up to God and his throne. A period follows in which 
the church suffers severe oppression from this dragon power. 
And though in this part of the scene the prophet occasionally 
glances forward, once even down almost to the end, because 
all the enemies of the church were to be actuated by the spirit 
of the dragon, yet in verse 1 of chapter 13 we are carried 
back to the time when the leopard beast, the successor of the 
dragon, commences his career. From this power, for the long- 
period of 1260 years, the church suffers war and persecution. 
Following this period of oppression, the church has another 
conflict, brief, but sharp and severe, with the two-horned beast, 
Then comes deliverance; and the prophecy closes with the 



638 



TeB revelation 



church brought safely through all her persecutions, and stand- 
ing victorious with the Lamb on Mount Zion. Thank God 
for the sure promise of final victory ! 

The one character which ever appears the same in all these 
scenes, and whose history is the leading theme through all the 
prophecy, is the church of God. The other characters are her 
persecutors, and are introduced simply because they are such. 
And here, as an introductory inquiry, we raise the question, 
Who or what is it that persecutes the true church ? — It is a 
false or apostate church. What is it that is ever warring 
against true religion ? — It is a false and counterfeit religion. 
Who ever heard of the civil power, merely, of any nation, per- 
secuting the people of God ? Governments may war against 
other governments, to avenge some wrong, real or imaginary, 
or to acquire territory and extend their power, as nations have 
often warred against the Jews ; but governments do not perse- 
cute (mark the word — do not persecute) people on account of 
their religion, unless under the control of some opposite and 
hostile system of religion. But the powers introduced in this 
prophecy, — the dragon, the leopard beast, and the two-horned 
beast, — are all persecuting powers. They are actuated by 
rage and enmity against the people and church of God. And 
this fact is of itself sufficiently conclusive evidence that in 
each of these powers the ecclesiastical or religious element is 
the controlling power. 

Take the dragon : what does it symbolize ? — The Roman 
empire, is the undeniable answer. But this is not enough. 
No one would be satisfied with this answer and no more. It 
must be more definite. We then add, The Roman empire in 
its pagan form, to which all must also agree. But just as 
soon as we say pagan, we introduce a religious element; for 
paganism is one of the hugest systems of counterfeit religion 
that Satan ever devised. The dragon, then, is so far an eccle- 
siastical power that the very characteristic by which it is dis- 
tinguished is a false system of religion. And what made 
the dragon persecute the church of Christ ? — It was because 
Christianity was prevailing against paganism, sweeping away 
its superstitions, overturning its idols, and dismantling its 



CHAPTER 13, VERSES 1 - 10 



639 



temples. The religious element of that power was touched, 
and persecution was the result. 

We now come to the leopard beast of chapter 13. What 
does that symbolize % The answer still is, The Roman em- 
pire. But the dragon symbolized the Roman empire, and 
why does not the same symbol represent it still \ — Ah ! there 
has been a change in the religious character of the empire; 
and this beast symbolizes Rome in its professedly Christian 
form. And it is this change of religion, and this alone, which 
makes a change in the symbol necessary. This beast differs 
from the dragon only in that he presents a different religious 
aspect. Hence it would be altogether wrong to affirm that it 
denotes simply the Roman civil power. 

To this beast the dragon gives his seat, his power, and 
great authority. By what power was pagan Rome succeeded '\ 
We all know that it was by papal Rome. It matters not to 
our present purpose when or by what means this change was 
effected; the great fact is apparent, and is acknowledged by 
all, that the next great phase of the Roman empire after its 
pagan form was its papal. It would not be correct, therefore, 
to say that pagan Rome gave its seat and power to a form of 
government merely civil, having no religious element whatever. 
No stretch of the imagination can conceive of such a transac- 
tion. But two phases of empire are here recognized; and in 
the prophecy, Rome is pagan until Rome is papal. The state- 
ment that the dragon gave to the leopard beast his seat and 
power, is further evidence that the dragon of Rev. 12:3 is 
not a symbol of Satan personally; for Satan has not abdicated 
in favor of any other malevolent being; and he has not given 
up his seat to any earthly power. 

But it may be said that it takes the leopard beast and two- 
horned beast together to constitute the papacy, and hence it 
is to these that the dragon gives his power, seat, and great 
authority. But the prophecy does not say so. It is the 
leopard beast alone with which the dragon has to do. It is 
to that beast alone that he gives his power, seat, and great 
authority. It is that beast that has a head that is wounded to 
death, which is afterward healed; that beast that the whole 



640 



THE REVELATION 



world wonders after ; that beast that receives a mouth speaking 
blasphemies, and that wears out the saints for 1260 years; 
and all this before the succeeding power, the two-horned beast, 
comes upon the stage of action at all. The leopard beast 
alone, therefore, symbolizes the Roman empire in its papal 
form, the controlling influence being ecclesiastical. 

To show this more fully, we have but to draw a parallel 
between the little horn of Dan. 7:8, 20, 24, 25, and this 
power. From this comparison it will appear that the little 
horn referred to and the leopard beast symbolize the same 
power ; but the little horn is acknowledged on all hands to 
be a symbol of the papacy. There are six points of identity, 
as follows: — 

1. The little horn was a blasphemous power. " He shall 
speak great words against the Most High." Dan. 7 : 25. 
The leopard beast of Rev. 13 : 6 does the same. " He opened 
his mouth in blasphemy against God." 

2. The little horn made war with the saints, and prevailed 
against them. Dan. 7:21. This beast also (Rev. 13:7) 
makes war with the saints, and overcomes them. 

3. The little horn had a mouth speaking great things. 
Dan. 7:8, 20. And of this beast we read, Rev. 13:5: "And 
there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and 
blasphemies." 

4. The little horn arose on the cessation of the pagan form 
of the Roman empire. The beast of Rev. 13 : 2 arises at the 
same time ; for the dragon, pagan Rome, gives him his power, 
his seat, and great authority. 

5. Power was given to the little horn to continue for a 
time, times, and the dividing of time, or 1260 years. Dan. 
7 : 25. To this beast also power was given for forty-two 
months, or 1260 years. Rev. 13 : 5. 

6. At the end of that specified period, the dominion of the 
little horn was to be taken away. Dan. 7 : 26. At the end 
of the same period, the leopard beast was himself to be " led 
into captivity." Rev. 13 : 10. Both these specifications were 
fulfilled in the captivity and exile of the pope, and the tempo- 
rary overthrow of the papacy by Trance in 1798. 



CHAPTER 13, VERSES 1 - 10 



641 



Here are points that prove identity; for when we have in 
prophecy two symbols, as in this instance, representing powers 
that come upon the stage of action at the same time, occupy 
the same territory, maintain the same character, do the same 
work, exist the same length of time, and meet the same fate, 
those symbols represent the same identical "power. 

Now all the particulars above specified do apply alike to the 
little horn, and the leopard beast of chapter 13, showing that 
these two symbols represent the same power. It is admitted 
on all hands that the little horn represents the papacy ; and he 
who claims that this leopard beast does not represent the same, 
must, to be consistent, show that at the same time that the 
papacy arose, there arose another great power exactly like it, 
occupying the same territory, bearing the same character, do- 
ing the same work, continuing the same length of time, and 
meeting the same fate, and yet a separate and distinct power; 
which would be as absurd as it would be impossible. 

The head that was wounded to death was the papal head. 
We are held to this conclusion by the very obvious principle 
that whatever is spoken in prophecy of the symbol of any 
government, applies to that government only while it is rep- 
resented by that symbol. Now Rome is represented by two 
symbols, the dragon and the leopard beast, because it has pre- 
sented two phases, the pagan and the papal ; and whatever 
is said of the dragon applies to Rome only in its pagan form, 
and whatever is said of the leopard beast applies to Rome 
only in its professedly Christian form. But Rome was pagan 
in John's day, who lived under the sixth or imperial head. 
This shows us at once that six of the heads, including the 
imperial, belong to the dragon ; and if it was any one of these 
heads which was wounded to death, then it was one of the 
heads of the dragon, or one of the forms of government that 
belonged to Rome in its pagan form, and not one of the heads 
of the beast; and John should have said, I saw one of the 
heads of the dragon wounded to death. But he says that it 
was one of the heads of the beast that was wounded to death. 
In other words, this wound fell upon some form of government 
that existed in the Roman empire after its change from pagan- 



642 



THE REVELATION 



ism to Christianity. But after this change, there was but one 
head, and that was the papal. 1 Thus it is placed beyond 
controversy that it was none other than the papal head that 
was wounded to death, and his deadly wound was healed. 
This wounding is the same as the going into captivity. Pev. 
13 : 10. It was inflicted when the pope was taken prisoner 
by Berthier, the French general, and the papal government 
was for a time abolished, in 1798. Stripped of his power, 
both civil and ecclesiastical, the captive pope, Pius VI, died in 
exile at Valence in France, Aug. 29, 1799. But the deadly 
wound was healed when the papacy was re-established, though 
with a diminution of its former power, by the election of a 
new pope, March 14, 1800. (See Bower's History of the 
Popes, pp. 404 - 428 ; Croly on the Apocalypse, London edi- 
tion, p. 251.) 

This beast opens his mouth in blasphemy against God to 
blaspheme his name. (See mention under Dan. 7 : 25 of the 
presumptuous titles assumed by the popes.) 

He blasphemes the tabernacle in heaven by turning the 
attention of his subjects to his own tlirone and palace instead 
of to the tabernacle of God; by turning their attention away 
from the city of God, Jerusalem above, and pointing them to 
Eome as the eternal city; and he blasphemes them that dwell 
in heaven by assuming to exercise the power of forgiving sins, 
and so turning away the minds of men from the mediatorial 
work of Christ and his heavenly assistants in the sanctuary 
above. 

By verse 10 we are again referred to the events of 1798, 
when that power that had for 1260 years led the saints of 
God into captivity, was led into captivity itself, as already 
noticed. 

1 The symbol as here presented has but seven heads, denoting seven forms of 
government, not contemporaneous but successive. Of course only one head is ruling 
at any one time; but all are placed alike upon the dragon and beast to identify 
both these symbols as denoting the Roman power. Six heads belonged to the dragon; 
that is, six forms of government were developed and passed away one after another, 
while the religion of Rome was pagan; and only one remained to be developed after 
the change to Christianity, and that was the papal; which as a spiritual power con- 
tinues to the end (2 Thess. 2:8), and as a temporal power to the time A/hen his 
dominion is taken away just before the end, Dan, 7:26, 



CHAPTER IS, VERSES 11-11 



645 



Verse 11. And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; 
and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. 12. 
And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and 
causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first 
beast, whose deadly wound was healed. 13. And he doeth great won- 
ders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in 
the sight of men, 14. And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by 
the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight 
of the beast ; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should 
make an image to the beast, which had the wound by the sword, and 
did live. 15. And he had power to give life unto the image of the 
beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that 
as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. 

16. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and 
bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads : 

17. And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, 
or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 

These verses bring to view the third great symbol in the 
line of prophecy we are examining, usually denominated the 
two-horned beast. We inquire for its application. The dragon, 
pagan Rome, and the leopard beast, papal Rome, present be- 
fore us great organizations standing as the representatives of 
two great systems of false religion. Analogy would seem to 
require that the remaining symbol, the two-horned beast, have 
a similar application, and find its fulfilment in some national- 
ity which is the representative of still another great system of 
religion. But the only remaining system which is exercising 
a controlling influence in the world to-day is Protestantism. 
Abstractly considered, paganism embraces all heathen lands, 
containing more than half the population of the globe. Ca- 
tholicism, which may perhaps be considered as embracing the 
religion of the Greek Church, so nearly identical with it, 
belongs to nations which compose a great portion of Christen- 
dom. Mohammedanism is an effete system, which has ceased 
to be any important factor in the world's progress. Moreover, 
it seems to have received enough prophetic attention in Daniel 
11 and Revelation 9. But Protestantism 'is the religion of 
nations which constitute the vanguard of the world in liberty, 
enlightenment, progress, and power. 

If, then, Protestantism is the religion to which we are to 
look, to what nationality, as the representative of that religion, 



646 



THE REVELATION 



does the prophecy have application 1 There are notable Prot- 
estant nations in Europe; bnt for reasons which will hereafter 
appear, the symbol cannot apply to any of these. A careful 
investigation has led to the conclusion that it does apply to 
Protestant America, or the government of the United States. 
We trust the reader will now feel impatient for some of the 
reasons for such an application, and will carefully consider 
the evidence by which it is supported. 

1. Probabilities Considered. — Are there any reasons why 
we should expect that our own government would be mentioned 
in prophecy ? On what conditions have other nations found a 
place in the prophetic record ? — First, if they have acted any 
prominent part in the world's history; and secondly, and above 
all, if they have had jurisdiction over, or maintained any rela- 
tions with, the people of God. In the records of the Bible 
and of secular history, we find data from which to deduce this 
rule respecting the prophetic mention of earthly governments; 
namely, whenever the relations of God's people to any nation 
are such that a true history of the former, which is the object 
of all revelation, could not be given without a notice of the 
latter, such nation is mentioned in prophecy. And all these 
conditions are certainly fulfilled in our government. 'No na- 
tion has ever attracted more attention, excited more profound 
wonder, or given promise of greater eminence or influence. 
And certainly here, if anywhere on the globe, are to be found 
a strong array of Christians, such as are the salt of the earth 
and the light of the world, whose history could not be written 
without mention of that government under which they live and 
enjoy their liberty. 

And the conviction has fastened itself upon many minds 
that the hand of Providence has been conspicuously manifest 
in the rise and progress of this nation. 

Governor Pownal, an English statesman, in 1780, while 
our Revolution was in progress, predicted that this country 
would become independent, and that a civilizing activity, be- 
yond what Europe could ever know, would animate it; and 
that its commercial and naval power would be found in every 



CHAPTER IS, VERSES 11-17 



647 



quarter of the globe. He then speaks of the probable establish- 
ment of this country as a free and sovereign power as — 

"A revolution that has stronger marks of divine interposi- 
tion superseding the ordinary course of human affairs, than 
any other event which this world has experienced. " 

De Tocqueville, a French writer, speaking of the separa- 
tion of the United States from England, says: — 

" It might seem their folly, but was really their fate ; or 
rather, the providence of God, who has doubtless a work for 
them to do in which the massive materiality of the English 
character would have been too ponderous a dead-weight upon 
their progress." 

Geo. Alfred Townsend, speaking of the misfortunes that 
have attended the other governments on this continent (E"ew 
World and Old, p. 635), says:— 

" The history of the United States was separated by a 
beneficent Providence far from the wild and cruel history of 
the rest of the continent." 

Such considerations as these are calculated to arouse in 
every mind a strong expectation that this government will be 
found to have some part to act in the carrying out of God's 
providential purposes in this world, and that somewhere it will 
be spoken of in the prophetic word. 

2. The Chronology of This Power. — At what period in this 
world's history is the rise of this power placed in the proph- 
ecy ? On this point, the foundation for the conclusions at 
which we must arrive is already laid in the facts elicited in 
reference to the preceding or leopard beast. It was at the 
time when this beast went into captivity, or was killed (polit- 
ically) with the sword (verse 10), or (which we suppose tc 
be the same thing) had one of its heads wounded to death 
(verse 3), that John saw the two-horned beast coming up. If 
the leopard beast, as we have conclusively proved, signifies 
the papacy, and the going into captivity met its fulfilment in 
the temporary overthrow of the popedom by the French in 
1798, then we have the time definitely specified when we are 
to look for the rise of this power. The expression " coming 
up " must signify that the power to which it applies was but 
41 



648 



THE REVELATION 



newly organized, and was then just rising into prominence 
and influence. The power represented by this symbol must, 
then, be some power which in 1798 stood in this position be- 
fore the world. 

And in what condition stood the United States of America 
at that time \ Macmillan and Co., the London publishers, in 
announcing their Statesman's Year Book for 1867, make an 
interesting statement of the changes that took place among the 
leading nations of the world during the half century between 
the years 1817 and 1867. They say: — 

" The half century has extinguished three kingdoms, one 
grand duchy, eight duchies, four principalities, one electorate, 
and four republics. Three new kingdoms have arisen, and 
one kingdom has been transformed into an empire. There 
are now forty-one states in Europe against fifty-nine which 
existed in 1817. Not less remarkable is the territorial ex- 
tension of the superior states of the world. Russia has an- 
nexed 567,364 square miles; the United States, 1,968,009; 
•France, 4,620; Prussia, 29,781; Sardinia, expanding into 
Italy, has increased by 83,041 ; the Indian empire has been 
augmented by 431,616. The principal states that have lost 
territory are Turkey, Mexico, Austria, Denmark, and the 
Netherlands." 

In their bearing upon the prophecy before us,**these state- 
ments are worthy of the particular attention of the reader. 
During the half century named, twenty-one governments dis- 
appeared altogether, and only three new ones arose. Five 
lost in territory instead of gaining. Only five besides the 
United States added to their domain, and the one ivhich did 
the most in this direction, added only a little over half a 
million of square miles; while the United States added nearly 
two million square miles. Thus the American government 
added over fourteen hundred thousand square miles of terri- 
tory during the fifty years named, more than any other single 
nation, and over eight hundred thousand more than were 
added, during that time, by all the other nations of the earth 
put together. Can any one doubt what nation was emphatic- 
ally " coming up " during the period covered by these statis- 



CHAPTER IS, VERSES 11 - 17 



649 



tics? Certainly it must be admitted that the United States is 
the only power that meets the specifications of the prophecy 
on this point of chronology. 

Mr. Wesley, in his notes on Revelation 14, written in 1754, 
says of the two-horned beast : — 

" He has not yet come, though he cannot be far off ; for he 
is to appear at the end of the forty-two months of the first 
beast." 

3. Age of This Power. — There is good evidence to show 
that the government symbolized by the two-horned beast is in- 
troduced into prophecy in the early part of its career ; that 
it is, when first brought to view, a youthful power. John's 
words are, "And I beheld another beast coming up out of 
the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb." Why does 
not John simply say, " He had two horns " ? Why does he 
add " like a lamb " ? It must be for the purpose of denot- 
ing the character of this beast, showing that it is not only of 
a very innocent and harmless demeanor, ostensibly, but also 
that it is a very youthful power; for the horns of a lamb are 
horns that have but just begun to grow. 

Bear in mind that by the preceding argument on chro- 
nology, our gaze is fixed to the year 1798 ; and the power 
symbolized was then a youthful power, according to the pres- 
ent argument. Question: What notable power was at that 
time coming into prominence, but still in its youth ? England 
was not, nor was France, nor Russia, nor any European power. 
For a young and rising power at that epoch, we are obliged 
to turn our eyes to the New World. But as soon as we turn 
them to this continent, they rest inevitably upon this country 
as the power in question. !No other power this side of the 
ocean is entitled to any mention in comparison with it. 

4. Location of the Two-horned Beast. — A single declara- 
tion of the prophecy is sufficient to guide us to important and 
correct conclusions on this point. John calls it " another 
beast." It is a symbol in addition to, and different from, 
the papal beast which the prophet had just had under con- 
sideration; that is, it symbolizes a power separate and distinct 
from that which is denoted by the preceding beast. This 



650 



THE REVELATION 



which John calls "another beast" is certainly no part of the 
first beast; and the power symbolized by it is likewise no part 
of that which is intended by that beast. This is fatal to the 
claim of those, who, to avoid the ajDplication of this symbol to 
our own government, say that it denotes some phase of the 
papacy; for in that case it wonld be a part of the preceding, 
or leopard beast. 

If this is " another " beast, it must be found in some locality 
not covered by any other symbols. Let us, then, take a brief 
survey of those symbols found in the word of God, which rep- 
resent earthly governments. These are found, chiefly, if not 
entirely, in the books of Daniel and the Revelation. In Dan- 
iel 2, a symbol is introduced in the form of a great image, 
consisting of four parts, — gold, silver, brass, and iron, — 
which is finally dashed to atoms, and a great mountain, tak- 
ing its place, fills the whole earth. In Daniel 7 we find a 
lion, a bear, a leopard, and a great and terrible nondescript 
beast, which, after passing through a new and remarkable 
phase, goes into the lake of fire. In Daniel 8, we have a 
ram, a he-goat, and a horn, little at first, but waxing exceed- 
ing great. In Revelation 9, we have locusts like unto horses. 
In Revelation 12, we have a great red dragon. In Revela- 
tion 13, we have a blasphemous leopard beast, and a beast 
with two horns like a lamb. In Revelation 17, we have a 
scarlet-colored beast, upon which a woman sits, holding in her 
hand a golden cup full of filthiness and abomination. 

What governments and what powers are represented by all 
these ? Do any of them symbolize the United States ? Some 
of them certainly represent earthly kingdoms, for so the proph- 
ecies themselves expressly inform us ; and ' in the application 
of nearly all of them there is quite a uniform agreement 
among expositors. The four parts of the great image of 
Daniel 2 represent four kingdoms, — Babylon, or Chaldea, 
Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. The lion of the seventh 
chapter also represents Babylon ; the bear, Medo-Persia ; the 
leopard, Grecia; and the great and terrible beast, Rome. The 
horn with human eyes and mouth, which appears in the second 
phase of this beast, represents the papacy, and covers its his- 



CHAPTER 13, VERSES 11-17 



651 



tory clown to the time when it was temporarily overthrown by 
the French in 1798. In Daniel 8, likewise, the ram represents 
Medo-Persia; the he-goat, Grecia; and the little horn, Rome. 
All these have a very clear and definite application to the 
governments named; none of them thus far can have any 
reference to the United States. 

The symbols brought to view in Revelation 9, all are 
agreed in applying to the Saracens and Turks. The dragon 
of Revelation 12 is the acknowledged symbol of pagan Rome. 
The leopard beast of chapter 13 can be shown to be identical 
with the eleventh horn of the fourth beast of Daniel 7, and 
hence to symbolize the papacy. The scarlet beast and the 
woman of Revelation IT as evidently apply also to Rome 
under pagan and papal rule, the symbols having especial ref- 
erence to the distinction between the civil power and the ec- 
clesiastical, the one being re23resented by the beast, the other 
by the woman seated thereon. 

There is one symbol left, and that is the two-horned beast 
of Revelation 13. On this there is more difference of opinion ; 
and before seeking for an application, let us look at the ground 
covered by those already examined. Babylon and Medo-Persia 
covered all the civilized portion of Asia. Greece covered East- 
ern Europe, including Russia. Rome, with the ten kingdoms 
into which is was divided, as represented by the ten toes of 
the image, the ten horns of the fourth beast of Daniel 7, the 
ten horns of the dragon of Revelation 12, and the ten horns 
of the leopard beast of Revelation 13, covered all Western 
Europe. (See Map of the Four Kingdoms, facing page 81.) 
In other words, all the Eastern Hemisphere known to history 
and civilization, is absorbed by the symbols already examined, 
respecting the application of which there is scarcely any room 
for doubt. 

But there is a mighty nation in the Western Hemisphere, 
worthy, as we have seen, of being mentioned in prophecy, 
which is not yet brought in; and there is one symbol remain- 
ing, the application of which has not yet been made. All the 
symbols but one are applied, and all the available portions of 
the Eastern Hemisphere are covered by the applications. Of 



652 



THE REVELATION 



all the symbols mentioned, one alone, the two-horned .beast of 
Kevelation 13, is left; and of all the countries of the earth 
respecting which any reason exists why they should be men- 
tioned in prophecy, one alone, the United States government, 
remains. Do the two-horned beast and the United States be- 
long together ? If they do, then all the symbols find an appli- 
cation, and all the ground is covered. If they do not, it 
follows, first, that the United States is not represented in 
prophecy; and secondly, that the symbol of the two-horned 
beast finds no government to which it can apply. But the 
first of these suppositions is not probable, and the second is 
not possible. 

But one conclusion can be drawn from these arguments, 
and that is that the two-horned beast must be located in the 
Western Hemisphere, and that it symbolizes the United States. 

Another consideration pointing to the locality of this power 
is drawn from the fact that John saw it arising from the earth. 
If the sea, from which the leopard beast arose (Rev. 13:1), 
denotes peoples, nations, and multitudes (Rev. 17:15), the 
earth would suggest, by contrast, a new and previously unoc- 
cupied territory. 

Being thus excluded from eastern continents, and impressed 
with the idea of looking to territory not previously known to 
civilization, we turn of necessity to the Western Hemisphere. 

5. The Manner of Its Rise. — The manner in which the 
two-horned beast was seen coming up shows, equally with its 
location, age, and chronology, that it is a symbol of the United 
States. John says he saw the beast coming up " out of the 
earth." And this expression must have been designedly used 
to point out the contrast between the rise of this beast and that 
of other national prophetic symbols. The four beasts of Dan- 
iel 7 and the leopard beast of Revelation 13 all arose out of 
the sea. ~New nations generally arise by overflowing other na- 
tions, and taking their place. But no other nation was over- 
turned in order to make room for the United States, and the 
struggle for its independence was already fifteen years in the 
past when it came into the field of prophecy. The prophet 
saw only peace. 



CHAPTER 13, VERSES 11 - 17 



653 



The word which is used in verse 11 to describe the man- 
ner in which this beast comes up, is very expressive. It is 
avafiaivov (anabainon) , one of the prominent definitions of 
which is, " To grow or spring up as a plant." And it is a 
remarkable fact that this very figure has been chosen by polit- 
ical writers, without any reference to the prophecy, as the one 
conveying the best idea of the manner in which this govern- 
ment has arisen. Mr. G. A. Townsend, in his work entitled 
The New World Compared with the Old, page 635, says: — 

" In this web of islands — the West Indies — began the 
life of both [North and South] Americas. There Columbus 
saw land; there Spain began her baneful and brilliant West- 
ern empire; thence Cortez departed for Mexico, De Soto for 
the Mississippi, Balboa for the Pacific, and Pizarro for Peru. 
The history of the United States was separated by a benefi- 
cent Providence far from this wild and cruel history of the 
rest of the continent, and like a silent seed we grew into 
empire; while empire itself, beginning in the South, was 
swept by so interminable a hurricane that what of its his- 
tory we can ascertain is read by the very lightnings that 
devastated it. The growth of English America may be lik- 
ened to a series of lyrics sung by separate singers, which, 
coalescing, at last make a vigorous chorus, and this attracting 
many from afar, swells and is prolonged, until presently it 
assumes the dignity and proportions of epic song." 

A writer in the Dublin Nation, about the year 1850, spoke 
of the United States as a wonderful empire which was " emerg- 
ing," and " amid tide silence of the earth daily adding to its 
power and pride." 

In Martyn's History of the Great Eeformation, Vol. IV, 
p. 238, is an extract from an oration delivered by Edward 
Everett on the English exiles who founded this government, 
in which he says: — 

" Did they look for a retired spot, inoffensive from its 
obscurity, safe in its remoteness from the haunts of despots, 
where the little church of Ley den might enjoy freedom of 
conscience ? Behold the mighty regions over which, in peace- 



654 



THE REVELATION 



ful conquest — • victoria sine clade, — they have borne the ban- 
ners of the cross." 

Will the reader now look at these expressions side by side, 
— " coming up out of the earth/' " emerging amid the silence 
of the earth/' " like a silent seed we grew into empire," 
" mighty regions " secured by " peaceful conquest." The 
first is from the prophet, stating what would be when the 
two-horned beast should arise ; the others are from political 
writers, telling what has been in the history of our own gov- 
ernment. Can any one fail to see that the last three are 
exactly synonymous with the first, and that they record a com- 
plete accomplishment of the prediction ? 

Another inquiry naturally follows: Has the United States 
" come up " in a manner to meet the specifications of the 
prophecy ' Let us see. A short time before the great Refor- 
mation in the days of Martin Luther, not four hundred years, 
ago, this Western Hemisphere was discovered. The Reforma- 
tion awoke the nations, that were fast fettered in the galling 
bonds of superstition, to the fact that it is the heaven-born 
right of every man to worship God according to the dictates 
of his own conscience. But rulers are loth to lose their power, 
and religious intolerance still oppressed the people. Under 
these circumstances, a body of religious heroes at length de- 
termined to seek in the wilds of America that measure of civil 
and religious freedom which they so much desired. In pur- 
suance of their noble purpose, one hundred of these voluntary 
exiles landed from the Mayflower on the coast of New England, 
Dec. 22, 1620. " Here," says Martyn, " New England was 
born," and this was " its first baby cry, — a prayer and a 
thanksgiving to the Lord." 

Another permanent English settlement was made at James- 
town, Ya., in 1607. In process of time, other settlements 
were made and colonies organized, which were all subject to 
the English crown till the Declaration of Independence, July 
4, 1776. 

The population of these colonies, according to the United 
States Magazine of August, 1855, amounted in 1701 to 262,* 
000; in 1749, to 1,046,000; in 1775, to 2,803,000. Then 



CHAPTER IS, VERSES 11 - 17 



657 



commenced the struggle of the American colonies for inde- 
pendence. In 1776, the j declared themselves a free and in- 
dependent nation. In 1777, delegates from the thirteen orig- 
inal States, — ■ New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, 
Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware. 
Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and 
Georgia, — in Congress assembled, adopted Articles of Con- 
federation. In 1783, the war of the Revolution closed with a 
treaty of peace with Great Britain, whereby the independence 
of the United States was acknowledged, and territory ceded to 
the extent of 815,615 square miles. In 1787, the Constitution 
was framed, and ratified by the foregoing thirteen States ; and 
on the 1st of March, 1789, it went into effect. Then the 
American ship of state was fairly launched, with less than 
one million square miles of territory, and about three million 
souls. Thus are we brought to the year 1798, when this gov- 
ernment is introduced into prophecy. And now, passing over 
a little more than a hundred years, to the first decade of the 
twentieth century, the territory of the United States govern- 
ment has expanded to 3,678,392 square miles, and its popula- 
tion has increased to over 80,000,000 people. Its growth in 
all industrial pursuits, agricultural productions, cattle raising, 
newspapers, schools, production of the precious metals, and 
wealth of all kinds which pertain to a civilized people, has 
been equally remarkable, and furnishes an ample basis for the 
application of the prophecy. 

6. Character of the Government Symbolized by the Two- 
homed Beast. — Under this division of the subject we find still 
further evidence that the symbol represents the United States 
government. In describing this power, John says that it had 
" two horns like a lamb." The horns of a lamb indicate, first, 
youthfulness, and secondly, innocence and gentleness. As a 
power which has but recently arisen, the United States answers 
to the symbol admirably in respect to age ; while no other power, 
as has already been proved, can be found to do this. And con- 
sidered as an index of power and character, it can be decided 
what constitutes the two horns of the government, if it can be 
ascertained what is the secret of its strength and power, and 



658 



THE REVELATION 



what reveals its apparent character, or constitutes its outward 
profession. The Hon. J. A. Bingham gives us the clue to the 
whole matter when he states that the object of those who first 
sought these shores was to found " what the world had not seen 
for ages ; viz., a church without a pope, and a state without a 
king." Expressed in other words, this would be a government 
in which the ecclesiastical should be separate from the civil 
power, and civil and religious liberty reign supreme. 

It needs no argument to show, and even the statement is 
unnecessary, that this is precisely the profession of the Ameri- 
can government. Article IV., sec. 4 of the Constitution of the 
United States, reads : " The United States shall guarantee to 
every state in this union a republican form of government.'' 1 
Article VI : " No religious test shall ever be required as a 
qualification to any office or public trust under the United 
States." The first amendement of the Constitution (Art. I) 
begins as follows : " Congress shall make no law respecting 
an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise 
thereof." These articles profess the amplest guarantee of civil 
and religious liberty, the entire and perpetual separation of 
church and state ; and what better symbols of them could be 
given than " two horns like a lamb " ? In what other country 
can be found a condition of things which would meet so com- 
pletely this feature of the symbol? 

7. A Republican Government. — The two-horned beast sym- 
bolizes a nation with a republican form of government. This 
is shown by the absence of crowns both upon its head and its 
horns. A crown is an appropriate symbol of a kingly or mon- 
archical form of government; and the absence of crowns, as 
in this case, would suggest a government in which the power is 
not vested in any such ruling member, but is, per consequence, 
lodged in the hands of the people. 

But this is not the most conclusive proof that the nation 
here symbolized is republican in its form of government. Erom 
verse 14 we learn that appeal is made to the people when any 
national action is to be performed : " Saying to them that dwell 
on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast," etc. 



CHAPTER IS, VERSES 11 - 17 



659 



Were the government a monarchy, national questions would 
hardly be submitted in this unqualified manner to the people; 
and the fact that appeal is here made to the people shows that 
the form of the government is such that the power is vestecj 
in their hands ; and this is emphatically the case in the United 
States government, but not in any other government to which 
any one could reasonably think of applying this symbol. This 
is another strong link in the chain of evidence that this symbol 
must apply to the United States of America. 

8. A Protestant Nation. — The two-horned beast also sym- 
bolizes a government which is Protestant in religion, or which, 
at least, is a non-Catholic power. It has been shown that the 
preceding beast symbolized the papacy; and of the two-horned 
beast we read that he causeth the earth and them which dwell 
therein to worshij} the first beast. But in all Catholic coun- 
tries, the people voluntarily worship the beast, or obey the dic- 
tates of Catholicism, without being " caused," or compelled, 
to do so by the government. The fact that the people of this 
government do not render this worship till caused to do so by 
the civil power, shows that the religion they entertain is not 
Catholicism. As an almost inevitable consequence, it follows 
that it is Protestantism ! for these are the only two religions 
of any consequence in Christendom. The United States is a 
Protestant nation, and meets the requirements of the prophecy 
admirably in this respect. Thus again the prophecy points 
directly to this government. 

9. The Dragon Voice. — After contemplating all the good 
features presented in this symbol, it is with pain we read that 
" he spake as a dragon." Before entering upon a discussion 
of this topic, let us look at the points already established. It 
has been shown, — 

(1) That the government symbolized by the two-horned 
beast must be some government distinct from the powers of 
the Old World, whether civil or ecclesiastical. 

(2) That it must arise in the Western Hemisphere. 

(3) That it must be seen assuming a position of promi- 
nence and influence about the year 1798. 



660 



THE REVELATION 



(4) That it must rise in a peaceful and quiet manner, not 
augmenting its power, as other nations have done, by aggres- 
sive wars and successful conquests. 

(5) That its progress must be so rapid as to strike the be- 
holder with as much wonder as would the perceptible growth 
of an animal before his eyes. 

(6) That it must be republican in its form of government. 

(7) That it must be Protestant in its religion. 

(8) That it must exhibit before the world, as an index of 
its character and the elements of its government, two great 
principles which are in themselves perfectly just, innocent, 
and lamblike. 

(9) That it must perform its work this side of 1798. 
And we have seen that of these nine specifications, it can 

be said, first, that they are all perfectly met in the history of 
the United States thus far ; and secondly, that they are not met 
in the history of any other government on the face of the 
earth. It is therefore impossible to apply the symbol of Rev. 
13 : 11 to any other government but that of the United States. 

But after describing the lamblike appearance of this sym- 
bol, the prophet immediately adds this, "And he spake as a 
dragon." The dragon, the first link in this chain of prophecy, 
was a relentless persecutor of the church of God. The leopard 
beast, which follows, was likewise a persecuting power, grind- 
ing out for 1260 years the lives of millions of the followers 
of Christ. The third actor in the scene, the two-horned beast, 
speaks like the first, and thus shows himself to be a dragon at 
heart ; " for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth 
speaketh," and in the heart actions are conceived. This, 
then, like the others, is to be a persecuting power; and the 
reason that any of them are mentioned in prophecy, is simply 
because they are persecuting powers. And if the United 
States is the power intended by this symbol which speaks as 
a dragon, it follows that this government is to enact unjust and 
oppressive laws against the religious profession and practice of 
some of its subjects. 

Nor is this so improbable an event as might at first appear. 
We must remember that in the last days the vast majority of 



CHAPTER IS, VERSES 11 - 17 



661 



the people of the most favored lands are to relapse into the low 
moral condition described in snch scriptures as Matt. 24 : 12 ; 
2 Tim. 3 : 1 - 5 ; 2 Peter 3 : 3, 4 ; Luke 17 : 26 - 30 ; 18:8; and 
it is from such that those who live godly in Christ Jesus will 
suffer persecution. 2 Tim. 3 : 12. 

Evil is also threatened from another quarter. Roman 
Catholicism, which has grown strong through immigration, has 
fixed its rapacious eyes on the United States, determined to 
bring this government under its power. Votes rule here, and 
Romanism controls an immense suffrage, which it carefully 
manipulates to its own ends. With such a weapon in its 
hands, its power for evil is almost unlimited; for multitudes 
of unscrupulous politicians, who under their country's pay, 
labor not for their country's good but for their own selfish 
aggrandizement, stand ready to help any party carry out any 
scheme, no matter how wicked, if that party will keep them 
in office. 

And in the Protestant churches there is that which threatens 
to lead to equally serious evils. Wealth, pride, selfishness, love 
of display, and worldliness in general, are fostering a spirit 
of religions aristocracy fatal to godliness and true piety. But 
above all the creed-power is binding — perhaps it may be said, 
has bound — the churches as in iron bands. Charles Beecher's 
celebrated sermon on creeds arraigns the whole church polity 
of Protestantism as ruinous in this respect to religious liberty. 
Though uttered many years ago, it is still growing more true 
each day. He says: — 

" Our best, most humble, most devoted servants of Christ 
are fostering in their midst what will one day, not long hence, 
show itself to be the spawn of the dragon. They shrink from 
any rude word against creeds with the same sensitiveness with 
which those holy fathers would have shrunk from a rude word 
against the rising veneration of saints and martyrs which they 
were fostering. . . . The Protestant evangelical denominations 
have so tied up one another's hands, and their own, that, be- 
tween them all, a man cannot become a preacher at all, any- 
where, without accepting some book besides the Bible. . . . 
There is nothing imaginary in the statement that the creed- 



662 



THE REVELATION 



power is now beginning to prohibit the Bible as really as Rome 
did, though in a subtler way." 

In addition to this, we have Spiritualism, infidelity, social- 
ism, free love, and trades unions, or labor against capital, *and 
communism, — all assiduously spreading their principles among 
the masses. These are the very principles that worked among 
the people, as the exciting cause, just prior to the terrible 
French Revolution of 1783 - 1S00. Human nature is the same 
in all ages, and like causes will surely produce like effects. 

10. Great Wonders. — In that part of the prediction which 
sets forth the work of the two-horned beast, we read that " he 
doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from 
heaven on the earth in the sight of men." In this specifica 
tion Ave have still further proof that the United States is the 
government represented by the two-horned beast. That we 
are living in an age of wonders, none deny. (See on Dan. 
12:4, remarks on the wonderful achievements of the present 
age, and double page of vignettes illustrating some of the lead- 
ing triumphs of scientific and inventive skill.) 

But this prophecy is not fulfilled in the great advancement 
in knowledge, the discoveries and inventions, so notable at the 
present time ; for the w r onders to which the prophet had refer- 
ence are evidently wrought for the purpose of deceiving the 
people, as we read in verse 14: "And deceiveth them that 
dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he 
had power to do in the sight of the beast." This identifies the 
two-horned beast with the false prophet of Rev. 19:20; for 
this false 'prophet is the poAver that Avorks miracles before the 
beast, " Avith which he deceiA T ed them that had received the 
mark of the beast, and them that Avorshiped his image," — -the 
identical work of the tAvo-horned beast. We can noAv ascertain 
by Avhat means the miracles in question are Avrought ; for ReA r . 
16: 13, 14 speaks of spirits of deAuls Avorking miracles, Avhich 
go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the Avhole world, 
to gather them to the battle of the great day of God Almighty; 
and these miracle-Avorking spirits go forth out of the mouths 
of certain poAvers, one of Avhich is this very false prophet, or 
tAvo-horned beast. 



CHAPTER IS, VERSES 11-17 



663 



The Saviour, predicting events to occur just before his 
second coming, says, " For there shall arise false christs and 
false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; inso- 
much that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very 
elect." Here, again, are wonders foretold, wrought for the 
purpose of deception, so powerful that, were it possible, even 
the very elect would be deceived by them. 

Thus we have a prophecy (and there are many others) 
setting forth the development, in the last days, of a wonder- 
working power, manifested to a startling and unprecedented 
degree in the interest of falsehood and error. The earthly 
government with which it was to be especially connected is 
that represented by the two-horned beast, or false prophet. 
The agency lying back of the outward manifestations was to 
be Satanic, the spirit of devils. The prophecy calls for such 
a work as this in America at the present time. Do we behold 
anything like it \ Head the answer in the lamentation of the 
prophet : " Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea ! 
for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, 
because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." Stand 
aghast, O earth ; tremble, ye people, but be not deceived ! 
The huge specter of evil confronts us, as the prophet declared. 
Satan is loosed. From the depth of Tartarus myriads of 
demons swarm over the land. The prince of darkness mani- 
fests himself as never before, and throwing over his work a 
would-be heavenly garb, he calls it — Spiritualism. 

(1) Does Spiritualism, then, bear these marks of Satanic 
agency ? 

a. The spirits which communicate claim to be the spirits 
of our departed friends. But the Bible, in the most explicit 
terms, assures us that the dead are wholly inactive and uncon- 
scious till the resurrection ; that the dead know not anything 
(Eccl. 9:5); that every operation of the mind has ceased (Ps. 
146:4); that every emotion of the heart is suspended (Eccl. 
9:6); and that there is neither work, nor device, nor knowl- 
edge, nor wisdom in the grave, where they lie. Eccl. 9 : 10. 
Whatever intelligence, therefore, comes to us professing to be 
one of our dead friends, comes claiming to be what, from the 
42 



664 



THE REVELATION 



word of God, we know lie is not. But angels of God do not 
lie; therefore these are not the good angels. Spirits of devils 
will lie; this is their work; and these are the credentials which 
at the very outset they hand us. 

1). The doctrines which they teach are also directly contrary 
to the Bible. They deny God. They deny Christ. They 
deny the atonement. They deny the Bible. They deny the 
existence of sin, and all distinction between right and wrong. 
They deny the sacredness of the marriage covenant; and, in- 
terspersing their utterances with blasphemies against God and 
his Son, and everything that is lovely, and good, and pure, 
they give the freest license to every propensity to sin, and to 
every carnal and fleshly lust. Tell us not that these things, 
openly taught under the garb of religion, and backed .up by 
supernatural sights and sounds, are anything less than Satan's 
masterpiece. For proof that these charges are none too severe, 
see " Modern Spiritualism a Subject of Prophecy," contain- 
ing quotations from their own writings. (Southern Publish- 
ing Association, Nashville, Tenn.) 

(2) Spiritualism answers accurately to the prophecy in 
the exhibition of great signs and wonders. Among its many 
achievements, these may be mentioned: Various articles have 
been transported from place to place by spirits alone ; beautiful 
music has been produced independently of human agency, with 
and without the aid of visible instruments ; many well-attested 
cases of healing have been presented ; persons have been carried 
through the air by the spirits in the presence of many others ; 
tables have been suspended in the air with several persons upon 
them; and, finally, spirits have presented themselves in bodily 
form, and talked with an audible voice. 

(3) Spiritualism answers to the prophecy in that it had its 
origin in the United States, thus connecting its wonders with 
the work of the two-horned beast. Commencing in Hydesville. 
~R. Y., in the family of Mr. John I). Fox, in the latter part 
of March, 1848, it spread with incredible rapidity through all 
the world. A letter to the writer from a leading Spiritualist 
publisher, December, 1895, claims five million believers in the 
United States, and fifty million throughout the world. Of 



CHAPTER IS, VERSES 11-17 



665 



those who have become its devotees, Judge Edmonds said, as 
long ago as 1853 : — 

" Besides the undistinguished multitude, there are many 
now of high standing and talent ranked among them, — doctors, 
lawyers, and clergymen in great numbers, a Protestant bishop, 
the learned and reverend president of a college, judges of our 
higher courts, members of Congress, foreign ambassadors, and 
ex-members of the United States Senate." 

The foregoing statement was written many years ago; and 
from that time to this the work of the spirits has been steadily 
progressing, and spreading among all classes of people. 

One reason why it is now difficult to estimate the number 
of those who might properly be denominated Spiritualists, is 
that the more prominent and respectable of the adherents of 
this movement are drawing under cover the obnoxious and im- 
moral features of the system, heretofore so prominent, and as- 
suming a Christian garb. By this move they bring themselves 
and a multitude , of church-members upon common ground, 
where there is no distinction between them in fact, though 
there still may be in name; the latter still remaining with 
their various denominations. 

A little work by Hudson Tuttle, What is Spiritualism ? 
p. 6, gives a list of twenty-two emperors, queens, princes, and 
members of the nobility, who have through Spiritualism sought 
counsel in their affairs, or favored and supported its claims. 
It is thus preparing to fulfil Kev. 16: 14, and gather the na- 
tions to the battle of the great day. 

11. An Image to the Beast. — Closely associated with this 
working of miracles is the erection of an image to the beast. 
The prophet thus connects the two in verse 14 : "And deceiv- 
eth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those mira- 
cles which he had power to do in the sight of tha beast ; saying 
to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an 
image to the beast which had the wound by a sword, and did 
live." The deception accomplished by the working of the mira- 
cles prepares the way for compliance with this demand for the 
formation of an image to the beast. 

To understand what would be an image of the papacy, we 



666 



THE REVELATION 



must first gain some definite idea of what constitutes the pa- 
pacy itself. The full development of the beast, or the estab- 
lishment of papal supremacy, dates from the famous letter of 
Justinian, which was made effective in a. d. 538, constituting 
the pope the head of the church and the corrector of heretics. 
The papacy was a church clothed with civil power, — an eccle- 
siastical body having authority to punish all dissenters with 
confiscation of goods, imprisonment, torture, and death. "What 
would be an image of the papacy ? — Another ecclesiastical es- 
tablishment clothed with similar power. How could such an 
image be formed in the United States \ Let the Protestant 
churches be clothed with power to define and punish heresy, 
to enforce their dogmas under the pains and penalties of the 
civil law, and should we not have an exact representation of 
the papacy during the days of its supremacy % 

It may be objected that whereas the papal church was com- 
paratively a unit, and hence could act in harmony in all its 
departments in enforcing its dogmas, the Protestant church is 
so divided as to be unable to agree in regard to what doctrines 
shall be made imperative on the people. The answer is, There 
are certain points which they hold in common, and which are 
sufficient to form a basis of co-operation. Chief among these 
may be mentioned the doctrine of the conscious state of the 
dead and the immortality of the soul, which is both the founda- 
tion and superstructure of Spiritualism ; and also the doctrine 
that the first day of the week is the Christian Sabbath. 

Let, now, an ecclesiastical organization be formed by these 
churches; let the government legalize such organization, and 
give it power ( a power which it will not have till the govern- 
ment does grant it) to enforce upon the people the dogmas 
which the different denominations can all adopt as the basis 
of union, and what do we have ? — Just what the prophecy 
represents, — an image to the papal beast, endowed with life 
by the two-horned beast, to speak and act with power. 

And are there any indications of such a movement ? The 
preliminary question — that of the grand union of all the 
churches — is now profoundly agitating the religious world. 

Chas. Beecher, in his sermon at the dedication of the Sec- 



CHAPTER IS, VERSES 11-17 



667 



ond Presbyterian church, Ft. Wayne, Ind., Feb. 22, 1846, 
before referred to, said: — 

" Thus are the ministry of the evangelical Protestant de- 
nominations not only formed all the way up under a tremen- 
dous pressure of merely human fear, but they live, and move, 
and breathe in a state of things radically corrupt, and appeal- 
ing every hour to every baser element of their nature to hush 
up the truth, and bow the knee to the power of apostasy. Was 
not this the way things went with Pome ? Are we not living 
her life over again ? And what do we see just ahead ? — 
Another general council ! a world's convention ! evangelical 
alliance, and universal creed ! " 

The Banner of Light of July 30, 1864, said: — 

"A system will be unfolded sooner or later that will em- 
brace in its folds church and state ; for the object of the two 
should be one and the same." 

The Church Advocate, in March, 1870, speaking of the 
formation of an " Independent American Catholic Church," 
a movement now agitated in this country, said: — 

" There is evidently some secret power at work, which may 
be preparing the world for great events in the near future." 

A Mr. Havens, in a speech delivered in New York a few 
years ago, said: — 

" For my own part, I wait to see the day when a Luther 
shall spring up in this country, who shall found a great Amer- 
ican Catholic Church, instead of a great Poman Catholic 
Church ; and who shall teach men that they can be good 
Catholics without professing allegiance to a pontiff on the 
other side of the Atlantic." 

In favor of this union, or rather, confederacy, of churches, 
journals are published, and speakers are pleading to-day. 
Thus there are indications that at no distant day such a 
church will be seen, not, indeed, raised up through the in- 
strumentality of a Luther, but rather through the operation 
of the same spirit that inspired a Fernando Nunez or a Tor- 
quemada. This being done, another instalment of the proph- 
ecy will be accomplished, and the image will be formed. And 
inasmuch as the United States is the only country where such 



668 



THE REVELATION 



a move can be looked for, and as events are here openly tending 
to such a result, the evidence is hereby still further strength- 
ened that the prophecy applies to this government. 

12. The Mark of the Beast. — The two-horned beast en- 
forces upon its subjects the mark of the first beast. We have 
now in the prophecy three agents introduced, which we must 
carefully distinguish from one another to avoid confusion. ' 

(1) The papal beast. This power is designated as " the 
beast/ 7 " the first beast," " the beast which had the wound 
by a sword, and did live," and " the beast whose deadly wound 
was healed." These expressions all refer to the same power; 
and wherever they occur in this prophecy, they have exclusive 
reference to the papacy. 

(2) The two-horned beast. This power, after its intro- 
duction in verse 11 of chapter 13, is represented through the 
remainder of the prophecy by the pronoun he; and wherever 
this pronoun occurs, down to the 17th verse (with possibly the 
exception of the 16th verse, which perhaps may refer to the 
image), it refers invariably to the two-horned beast. 

(3) The image of the beast. This is, every time, with 
the possible, but not probable, exception just stated, called the 
image; so that there is no danger of confounding this with 
any other agent. 

The acts ascribed to the image are, speaking and enforcing 
the worship of itself under the penalty of death; and this is 
the only enactment which the prophecy mentions as enforced 
under the death penalty. 

The mark of the beast is enforced by the two-horned beast, 
either directly or through the image. The penalty attached to 
a refusal to receive this mark is a forfeiture of all social privi- 
leges, a deprivation of the right to buy and sell. The mark 
is the mark of the papal beast. Against this worship of the 
beast and his image, and the reception of his mark, the third 
angel's message of Rev. 14: 9 - 12 is a most solemn and thrill- 
ing warning. 

This, then, is the issue, which, according to this prophecy, 
we are soon to be called upon to meet; namely, human organ- 
izations, controlled and inspired by the spirit of the dragon, 



CHAPTER 13, VERSES 11-17 



669 



are to command men to do those acts which are in reality the 
worshiping of an apostate religious power and the receiving of 
his mark; and if they refuse to do this, thej lose the rights of 
citizenship, and become outlaws in the land; and they must do 
that which constitutes the worship of the image of the beast, 
or forfeit their lives. On the other hand, God sends forth a 
message a little before the fearful crisis is upon us, as we 
shall see under chapter 14 : 9 - 12, declaring that all who do 
any of these things " shall drink of the wine of the wrath of 
God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his 
indignation." He who refuses to comply with these demands 
of earthly powers exposes himself to the severest penalties 
which human beings can inflict ; and he who does comply, ex- 
poses himself to the most terrible threatenings of divine wrath 
to be found in the word of God. The question whether they 
will obey God or man is to be decided by the people of the 
present age under the heaviest pressure, from either side, that 
has ever been brought to bear upon any generation. 

The worship of the beast and his image, and the reception 
of his mark, must be something that involves the greatest of- 
fense that can be committed against God, to call down so severe 
a denunciation of wrath against it. This is a work, as has 
already been shown, which takes place in the last days ; and as 
God has given us in his word most abundant evidence to show 
when we are in the last days, that no one need be overtaken 
by the day of the Lord as by a thief, so, likewise, it must be 
that he has given us the means whereby we may determine 
what the receiving of the mark of the beast is, which he has 
so strongly condemned, that we may avoid the fearful penalty 
so sure to follow the commission of this act. God does not 
so trifle with human hopes and human destinies as to denounce 
a most fearful doom against a certain sin, and then place it 
out of our power to understand what that sin is, so that Ave 
have no means of guarding against it. 

We therefore now call attention to the very important in- 
quiry, What constitutes the mark of the beast ? The "figure of 
a mark is borrowed from an ancient custom. Bishop Xewton 
(Dissertations on the Prophecies, Vol. Ill, p. 241) says: — 



670 



THE REVELATION 



" It was customary among the ancients for servants to re- 
ceive the mark of their master, and soldiers, of their general, 
and those who were devoted to any particular deity, of the par- 
ticular deity to whom they were devoted. These marks were 
usually impressed on their right hand or on their forehead, and 
consisted of some hieroglyphic character, or of the name ex- 
pressed in vulgar letters, or of the name disguised in numerical 
letters, according to the fancy of the imposer." 

Prideaux says that Ptolemy Philopater ordered all the Jews 
who applied to be enrolled as citizens of Alexandria to have the 
form of an ivy leaf (the badge of his god, Bacchus) impressed 
upon them with a hot iron, under pain of death. (Prideaux's 
Connection, Vol. II, p. 78.) 

The word used for mark in this . prophecy is ^apay/Aa 
(charagma) , and is defined to mean, "a graving, sculpture; 
a mark cut in or stamped." It occurs nine times in the New 
Testament, and with the single exception of Acts 17 : 29, refers 
every time to the mark of the beast. We are not, of course, 
to understand in this symbolic prophecy that a literal mark 
is intended ; but the giving of the literal mark, as practiced 
in ancient times, is used as a figure to illustrate certain acts 
that will be performed in the fulfilment of this prophecy. And 
from the literal mark as formerly employed, we learn some- 
thing of its meaning as used in the prophecy; for between the 
symbol and the thing symbolized there must be some resem- 
blance. The mark, as literally used, signified that the person 
receiving it was the servant of, acknowledged the authority of, 
or professed allegiance to, the person whose mark he bore. 
So the mark of the beast, or of the papacy, must be some act 
or profession by which the authority of that power is acknowl- 
edged. What is it ? 

It would naturally be looked for in some of the special 
characteristics of the papal power. Daniel, describing that 
power under the symbol of a little horn, speaks of it as waging 
a special warfare against God, wearing out the saints of the 
Most High, and thinking to change times and laws. The 
prophet expressly specifies on this point : " He shall think 
to change times and laws." These laws must certainly be the 



CHAPTER 13, VERSES 11 - 17 



671 



laws of the Most High. To apply it to human laws, and make 
the prophecy read, "And he shall speak great words against 
the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, 
and think to change human laws," would he doing evident 
violence to the language of the prophet. But apply it to the 
laws of God, and let it read, "And he shall speak great words 
against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the 
Most High, and shall think to change the times and laws of 
the Most High," and all is consistent and forcible. The He- 
brew has J")"] (dath)y law, and the Septuagint reads, vopos 
(nomos), in the singular, " the law," which more directly sug- 
gests the law of God. The papacy has been, able to do more 
than merely " think " to change human laws. It has changed 
them at pleasure. It has annulled the decrees of kings and 
emperors, and absolved subjects from allegiance to their right- 
ful sovereigns. It has thrust its long arm into the affairs of 
nations, and brought rulers to its feet in the most abject 
humility. But the prophet beholds greater acts of presump- 
tion than these. He sees it endeavor to do what it was not 
able to do, but could only think to do; he sees it attempt an 
act which no man, nor any combination of men, can ever ac- 
complish; and that is, to change the law of the Most High. 
Bear this in mind while we look at the testimony of another 
sacred writer on this very point. 

The apostle Paul speaks of the same power in 2 Thessalo- 
nians 2 ; and he describes it, in the person of the pope, as 
" the man of sin," and as " sitting as God in the temple of 
God " (that is, the church), and as exalting himself " above all 
that is called God, or that is worshiped." According to this, 
the pope sets himself up as the one for all the church to look 
to for authority, in the place of God. And now we ask the 
reader to ponder carefully the question how he can exalt him- 
self above God. Search through the whole range of human 
devices, go to the extent of human effort ; by what plan, by 
what move, by what claim, could this usurper exalt himself 
above God? He might institute any number of ceremonies, 
he might prescribe any form of worship, he might exhibit any 
degree of power; but so long as God had requirements which 



672 



THE REVELATION 



the people felt bound to regard in preference to his own, so 
long he would not be above God. He might enact a law, and 
teach the people that they were under as great obligations to 
that as to the law of God; then he would only make himself 
equal with God. But he is to do more than this; he is to 
attempt to raise himself above him. Then he must promulgate 
a law which conflicts with the law of God, and demand obedi- 
ence to his own law in preference to God's law. There is no 
other possible way in which he could place himself in the 
position assigned in the prophecy. But this is simply to 
change the law of God ; and if he can cause this change to be 
adopted by the people in the place of the original enactment, 
then he, the law-changer, is above God, the law-maker. And 
this is the very work that Daniel said he should think to do. 

Such a work as this, then, the papacy must accomplish 
according to the prophecy ; and the prophecy cannot fail. And 
when this is done, what do the people of the world have % — 
They have two laws demanding obedience, — one, the law of 
God as originally enacted by him, an embodiment of his will, 
and expressing his claims upon his creatures; the other, a re- 
vised edition of that law, emanating from the pope of Borne, 
and expressing his will. And how is it to be determined 
which of these powers the people honor and worship ? — It is 
determined by the law which they keep. If they keep the law 
of God as given by him, they worship and obey God. If they 
keep the law as changed by the papacy, they worship that 
power. But further: the prophecy does not say that the little 
horn, the papacy, should set aside the law of God, and give 
one entirely different. This would not be to change the law, 
but simply to give a new one. He was only to attempt a 
change, so that the law that comes from God, and the law that 
comes from the papacy, are precisely alike, excepting the change 
which the papacy has made in the former. They have many 
points in common. But none of the precepts which they con- 
tain in common can distinguish a person as the worshiper of 
either power in preference to the other. If God's law says, 
" Thou shalt not kill," and the law as given by the papacy 
says the same, no one can tell by a person's observance of that 



CHAPTER IS, VERSES 11-17 



673 



precept whether he designs to obey God rather than the pope, 
or the pope rather than God. But when a precept that has 
been changed is the subject of action, then whoever observes 
that precept as originally given by God, is thereby distin- 
guished as a worshiper of God ; and he who keeps it as changed 
is thereby marked as a follower of the power that made the 
change. In no other way can the two classes of worshipers be 
distinguished. From this conclusion, no candid mind can dis- 
sent; but in this conclusion we have a general answer to the 
question, " What constitutes the mark of the beast? " and that 
answer is simply this: The mark of the beast is the change 
which the beast has attempted to make in the law of God. 

We now inquire what that change is. By the law of God, 
we mean the moral law, the only law in the universe of immu- 
table and perpetual obligation, — the law of which Webster 
says, denning the term according to the sense in which it is 
almost universally used in Christendom, " The moral law is 
summarily contained in the decalogue, written by the finger of 
God on two tables of stone, and delivered to Moses on Mount 
Sinai." 

If now the reader will compare the ten commandments as 
found in Roman Catholic catechisms with those commandments 
as found in the Bible, he will see in the catechisms — we mean 
those portions specially devoted to instruction — that the second 
commandment is left out, that the tenth is divided into two 
to make up the lack caused by leaving out the second, and 
keep good the number ten, and that the fourth commandment 
(called the third in their enumeration) is made to enjoin the 
observance of Sunday as the Sabbath, and prescribe that the 
day shall be spent in hearing mass devoutly, attending vespers, 
and reading moral and pious books. Here are several varia- 
tions from the decalogue as found in the Bible. Which of 
them, if any, constitutes the change of the law intended in the 
prophecy ? or are they all included in that change ? Let it be 
borne in mind, that, according to the prophecy, he was to think 
to change times and laws. This plainly conveys the idea of 
intention and design, and makes these qualities essential to 
the change in question. But respecting the omission of the 



674 



THE REVELATION 



second commandment, Catholics argue that it is included in the 
first, and hence should not be numbered as a separate com- 
mandment; and on the tenth they claim that there is so plain 
a distinction of ideas as to require two commandments; so 
they make the coveting of a neighbor's wife the ninth com- 
mand, and the coveting of his goods the tenth. 

In all this they claim that they are giving the command- 
ments exactly as God intended to have them understood; so, 
while we may regard them as errors in their interpretation of 
the commandments, we cannot set them down as professedly 
intentional changes. Not so, however, with the fourth com- 
mandment. Respecting this commandment, they do not claim 
that their version is like that given by God. They expressly 
claim a change here, and also that the change has been made 
by the church. A few quotations from standard Catholic 
works will make this matter plain. In a work entitled, Treat- 
ise of Thirty Controversies, we find these words : — 

" The word of God commandeth the seventh day to be the 
Sabbath of our Lord, and to be kept holy; you [Protestants], 
without any precept of Scripture, change it to the first day of 
the week, only authorized by our traditions. Divers English 
Puritans oppose, against this point, that the observation of the 
first day is proved out of Scripture, where it is said, the first 
day of' the week. Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2; Rev. 1:10. 
Have they not spun a fair thread in quoting these places ? If 
we should produce no better for purgatory and prayers for the 
dead, invocation of the saints, and the like, they might have 
good cause indeed to laugh us to scorn, for where was it 
written that these were Sabbath days in which those meetings 
were kept ? or where is it ordained they should be always ob- 
served ? or, which is the sum of all, where is it decreed that 
the observation of the first day should abrogate, or abolish, the 
sanctifying of the seventh day, which God commanded ever- 
lastingly to be kept holy ? Not one of these is expressed in 
the written word of God." 

In the Catechism of the Christian Religion, by Stephen 
Keenan (Boston, Patrick Donahue, 1857), p. 206, on the 



CHAPTER 13, VERSES 11 - 17 



675 



subject of the third (fourth) commandment, we find these 
questions and answers : — 

"Ques. — What does God ordain by this commandment ? 

"A?is. — ■ He ordains that we sanctify, in a special manner, 
this day on which he rested from the labor of creation. 

"Q. — What is this day of rest ? 

"A. — The seventh day of the week, or Saturday; for he 
employed six days in creation, and rested on the seventh. 
Gen. 2:2; Heb. 4:1; etc. 

"Q. — Is it, then, Saturday we should sanctify, in order to 
obey the ordinance of God? 

/'A. — During the old law, Saturday was the day sanctified ; 
but the church, instructed by Jesus Christ, and directed by the 
Spirit of God, has substituted Sunday for Saturday; so now 
we sanctify the first, not the seventh day. Sunday means, and 
now is, the day of the Lord." 

In the Catholic Christian Instructed (J. P. Kenedy, New 
York, 1884), p. 202, we read:— 

"Ques. — What warrant have you for keeping the Sunday 
preferable to the ancient Sabbath, which was the Saturday? 

"Ans. — We have for it the authority of the Catholic 
Church, and apostolic tradition. 

"Q. — ■ Does the Scripture anywhere command the Sunday 
to be kept for the Sabbath ? 

"A. — The Scripture commands us to hear the church 
(Matt. 18: 17; Luke 10: 16), and to hold fast the traditions 
of the apostles. 2 Thess. 2:15. But the Scriptures do not 
in particular mention this change of the Sabbath." 

In the Doctrinal Catechism (Kenedy, New York), p. 174, 
we find further testimony to the same point: — 

" Ques. — Have you any other way of proving that the 
church has power to institute festivals of precept ? 

"Ans. — Had she not such power, she could not have done 
that in which all modern religionists agree with her — she 
could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first 
day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the seventh 
day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority." 



676 



THE REVELATION 



In Abridgment of Christian Doctrine (Kenedy, New 
York), p. 58, we find this testimony: — 

" Ques. — How prove you that the church hath power to 
command feasts and holy days 1 

" Ans. — By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sun- 
day, which Protestants allow of! and therefore they fondly 
contradict themselves by keeping Sunday strictly, and break- 
ing most other feasts commanded by the same church. 

"Q.. — How prove you that? 

"A. — Because by keeping Sunday they acknowledge the 
church's power to ordain feasts, and to command them under 
sin." 

And finally, W. Lockhart, late B. A. of Oxford, in the 
Toronto (Catholic) Mirror, offered the following " challenge " 
to all the Protestants of Ireland, — ■ a challenge as well calcu- 
lated for this locality as that. He says : — 

- ." I do therefore solemnly challenge the Protestants of Ire- 
land to prove, by plain texts of Scripture, these questions con- 
cerning the obligations of the Christian Sabbath: (1) That 
Christians may work on Saturday, the old seventh day; (2) 
that they are bound to keep holy the first day, namely, Sun- 
day; (3) that they are not bound to keep holy the seventh 
day also." 

This is what the papal power claims to have done respecting 
the fourth commandment. Catholics plainly acknowledge that 
there is no Scriptural authority for the change they have made, 
but that it rests wholly upon the authority of the church ; and 
they claim it as a token, or mark, of the authority of that 
church ; the " very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday " 
being set forth as proof of its power in this respect. For fur- 
ther testimony on this point, the reader is referred to a book 
published by the Southern Publishing Association, Nashville, 
Tenn., entitled, The Change of the Sabbath, in which are also 
extracts from Catholic writers refuting the arguments usually 
relied upon to prove the Sunday-sabbath, and showing that 
its only authority is the Catholic Church. 

" But," says one, " I supposed that Christ changed the 
Sabbath." A great many suppose so, and it is natural that 



CHAPTER 13, VERSES 11 - 17 



677 



they should; for they have been so taught. And while we 
have no words of denunciation to utter against any such per- 
sons for so believing, we would have them at once understand 
that it is, in reality, one of the most enormous of errors. We 
would therefore remind such persons that, according to the 
prophecy, the only change ever to be made in the law of God, 
was to be made by the little horn of Daniel 7, the man of sin 
of 2 Thessalonians 2 ; and the only change that has been made 
in it, is the change of the Sabbath. Now, if Christ made 
this change, he filled the office of the blasphemous power spoken 
of by both Daniel and Paul, — a conclusion sufficiently hideous 
to drive any Christian from the view which leads thereto. 

Why should any one labor to prove that Christ changed 
the Sabbath ? Whoever does this is performing a thankless 
task. The pope will not thank him; for if it is proved that 
Christ wrought this change, then the pope is robbed of his 
badge of authority and power. And no truly enlightened 
Protestant will thank him ; for if he succeeds, he only shows 
that the papacy has not done the work which it was predicted 
that it should do, and so that the prophecy has failed, and 
the Scriptures are unreliable. The matter would better stand 
as the prophecy has it, and the claim which the pope un- 
wittingly puts forth would better be granted. When a person 
is charged with any work, and that person steps forth and 
confesses that he has done the work, that is usually considered 
sufficient to settle the matter. So, when the prophecy affirms 
that a certain power shall change the laAV of God, and in due 
time that very power arises, does the work foretold, and then 
openly claims that he has done it, what need have we of 
further evidence ? The world should not forget that the great 
apostasy foretold by Paul has taken place ; that the man of 
sin for long ages held almost a monopoly of Christian teach- 
ing in the world; that the mystery of iniquity has cast the 
darkness of its shadow and the errors of its doctrines over 
almost all Christendom ; and that out of this era of error and 
darkness and corruption, the theology of our day has come. 
Would it, then, be anything strange if there were yet some 
relics of popery to be discarded ere the reformation will be 



678 



THE REVELATION 



complete ? A. Campbell (Baptism, p. 15 ), speaking of the 
different Protestant sects, says: — 

a All of them retain in their bosom, — in their ecclesi- 
astical organizations, worship, doctrines, and observances, — 
varions relics of popery. They are at best a reformation of 
popery, and only reformations in part. The doctrines and 
traditions of men yet impair the power and progress of the 
gospel in their hands." 

The nature of the change which the little horn has at- 
tempted to effect in the law of God is worthy of notice. True 
to his purpose to exalt himself above God, he undertakes to 
change that commandment which, of all others, is the funda- 
mental commandment of the law, the one which makes known 
who the lawgiver is, and contains his signature of royalty. 
The fourth commandment does this ; no other one does. Four 
others, it is true, contain the word God, and three of them the 
word Lord, also. But who is this Lord God of whom they 
speak \ Without the fourth commandment, it is impossible to 
tell ; for idolaters of every grade apply these terms to the mul- 
titudinous objects of their adoration. With the fourth com- 
mandment to point out the Author of the decalogue, the claims 
of every false god are annulled at one stroke ; for the God who 
here demands our worship is not any created being, but the 
One who created all things. The maker of the earth and sea, 
the sun and moon, and all the starry host, the upholder and 
governor of the universe, is the One who claims, and who, 
from his position, has a right to claim, our supreme regard in 
preference to every other object. The commandment which 
makes known these facts is therefore the very one we might 
suppose that power which designed to exalt itself above God 
would undertake to change. God gave the Sabbath as a memo- 
rial of himself, a weekly reminder to the sons of men of his 
work in creating the heavens and the earth, a great barrier 
against heathenism and idolatry. It is the signature and seal 
against atheism and idolatry. It is the signature and seal 
of the law. This the papacy has torn from its place, and 
erected in its stead, on its own authority, another institution, 
designed to serve another purpose. 



CHAPTER 13, VERSES 11 - 17 



679 



This change of the fourth commandment must therefore be 
the change to which the prophecy points, and Sunday-keeping 
must be the mark of the beast ! Some who have long been 
taught to regard this institution with reverence will perhaps 
start back with little less than feelings of horror at this con- 
clusion. We have not space, nor is this, perhaps, the place, 
to enter into an extended argument on the Sabbath question, 
and an exposition of the origin and nature of the observance 
of the first day of the week. Let us submit this one proposi- 
tion: If the seventh day is still the Sabbath enjoined in the 
fourth commandment; if the observance of the first day of 
the week has no foundation whatever in the Scriptures ; if this 
observance has been brought in as a Christian institution, and 
designedly put in place of the Sabbath of the decalogue by that 
power which is symbolized by the beast, and placed there as a 
badge and token of its power to legislate for the church, — is 
it not inevitably the mark of the beast ? The answer must be 
in the affimative. But these hypotheses are all certainties. 1 

It will be said again, Then all Sunday-keepers have the 
mark of the beast ; then all the good of past ages who kept this 
day had the mark of the beast ; then Luther, Whitefield, the 
Wesleys, and all who have done a good and noble work of ref- 
ormation, had the mark of the beast; then all the blessings 
that have been poured upon the reformed churches have been 
poured upon those who had the mark of the beast ; and all 
Christians of the present day who are keeping Sunday as the 
Sabbath, have the mark of the beast. We answer, ~Not so ! 
And we are sorry to say that some professedly religious teach- 
ers, though many times corrected, persist in misrepresenting 
us on this point. We have never so held; we have never so 
taught. Our premises lead to no such conclusions. Give ear : 
The mark and worship of the beast are enforced by the two- 
horned beast. The receiving of the mark of the beast is a 
specific act which the two-horned beast is to cause to be done. 
The third message of Revelation 14 is a warning mercifully 
sent out in advance to prepare the people for the coming 

1 See " History of the Sabbath," and other works on the subject, for sale by the 
Southern Publishing Association, Nashville, Tenn. To these we can only refer the 
reader, in passing, aq 



680 



THE REVELATION 



danger. There can therefore be no worship of the beast, nor 
reception of his mark such as the prophecy contemplates, till it 
is enforced by the two-horned beast. We have seen that inten- 
tion was essential to the change which the papacy has made in 
the law of God, to constitute it the mark of that power; so 
intention is necessary in the adoption of that change to make 
it, on the part of any individual, the reception of that mark. 
In other words, a person must adopt the change knowing it to 
be the work of the beast, and receive it on the authority of 
that power, in opposition to the requirement of God. 

But how is it with those mentioned above, who have kept 
Sunday in the past, and the majority of those who are keeping 
it to-day ? Do they keep it as an institution of the papacy % — 
No. Have they decided between this and the Sabbath of our 
Lord, understanding the claims of each ? — ~No. On what 
ground have they kept it, and on what do they still keep 
it ? — ■ They suppose they are keeping a commandment of God. 
Have such the mark of the beast % — By no means. Their 
course is attributable to an error unwittingly received from the 
Church of Borne, not to an act of worship rendered to it. 

But how is it to be in the future ? The church which is to 
be prepared for the second coming of Christ must be entirely 
free from papal errors and corruptions. A reform must hence 
be made on the Sabbath question. The third angel proclaims 
the commandments of God, leading men to the true in the place 
of the counterfeit. The dragon is stirred, and so controls the 
wicked governments of the earth that all the authority of hu- 
man power shall be exerted to enforce the claims of the man 
of sin. Then the issue is fairly before the people. They are 
required to keep, on the one hand, the true Sabbath; on the 
other, a counterfeit. For refusing to keep the true, the mes- 
sage threatens the unmingled wrath of God; for refusing the 
false, earthly governments threaten them with persecution and 
death. With this issue before the people, what does he do who 
yields to the human requirement ? — He virtually says to God, 
I know your claims, but I will not heed them. I know that 
the power I am required to worship is antichristian, but I 
yield to it to save my life. I renounce your allegiance, and 



CHAPTER IS, VERSES 11 - 17 



681 



bow to the usurper. The beast is henceforth the object of my 
adoration; under his banner, in opposition to your authority, 
I henceforth array myself; to him, in defiance of your claims, 
I henceforth yield the obedience of my heart and life. 

Such is the spirit which will actuate the hearts of the beast- 
worshipers, — a spirit which insults the God of the universe to 
his face, and is prevented only by lack of power from over- 
throwing his government and annihilating his throne. Is it 
any wonder that Jehovah denounces against so Heaven-daring 
a course the most terrible threatening that his Word contains \ 

13. The Closing ~\Yorl\ — Y7e have now seen what would 
properly constitute an image to the beast, such as the two- 
horned beast is to erect, and also the probability that such an 
image will soon be perfected in this country; and we have 
also learned what constitutes the mark of the beast, which is to 
be enforced upon all the people. An ecclesiastical organization 
composed of a greater or less number of the different sects of 
our land, with some degree of coalition also between these 
bodies and Roman Catholicism, together with the promulga- 
tion and enforcement of a general Sunday-sabbath law, would 
fulfil what the prophecy sets forth in reference to the image 
and the mark of the beast; and these movements, or their 
exact equivalent, the prophecy calls for. The line of argu- 
ment leading to these conclusions is so direct and well-defined 
that there is no avoiding them. They are a clear and logical 
sequence from the premises given us. 

When the application of Rev. 13 : 11 - 17 to the United 
States was first made, as early as the year 1850, these posi- 
tions respecting a union of the churches and a grand Sunday 
movement were taken. But at that time no sign appeared 
above or beneath, at home or abroad, — no token was seen, 
no indication existed, that such an issue would ever be made. 
But there was the prophecy, and that must stand. The United 
States government had given abundant evidence, by its loca- 
tion, the time of its rise, the manner of its rise, and its apparent 
character, that it was the power symbolized by the two-horned 
beast. There could be no mistake in the conclusion that it was 
the very nation intended by that symbol. This being so, it 



682 



THE REVELATION 



must take the course and perform the acts foretold. But here 
were predictions which could be fulfilled by nothing less than 
the above-named movement respecting church and state, and 
the enforcement of the papal Sabbath as a mark of the beast. 

To take the position at that time that this government was 
to pursue such a policy and engage in such a work, without any 
apparent probability in its favor, was no small act of faith. 
On the other hand, to deny or ignore it, while admitting the 
application of the symbol to this government, would not be in 
accordance with either Scripture or logic. The only course 
for the humble, confiding student of prophecy to pursue in 
such cases is to take the light as it is given, and believe the 
prophecy in all its parts. So the stand was boldly taken ; and 
open proclamation has been made from that day to this, that 
such a work would be seen in the United States. With every 
review of the argument, new features of strength have been 
discovered in the application; and amid a storm of scornful 
incredulity we have watched the progress of events, and awaited 
the hour of fulfilment. 

Meanwhile, Spiritualism has astonished the world with its 
terrible progress, and shown itself to be the wonder-working 
element which was to exist in connection with this power. 
This has mightily strengthened the force of the application. 
And now, within a few years past, what have we further seen ? 
— ~No less than the commencement of that very movement re- 
specting the formation of the image, and the enactment of 
Sunday laws, which we have so long expected, and which is 
to complete the prophecy and close the scene. 

Reference has already been made to the movement to se- 
cure a union of the churches for the purpose of adding strength 
and influence to ecclesiastical movements in certain directions. 
And now a class of men is suddenly springing up all over the 
land whose souls are absorbed with the cognate idea of Sunday 
reform, and who have dedicated themselves, heads, hands, and 
pockets, to the carrying forward of this kindred movement. 
Organizations called Sabbath Committees have been formed in 
various places, and have labored zealously, by means of books, 
tracts, speeches, and sermons, to create a strong public senti- 



CHAPTER IS, VERSES 11 -17 683 

ment in behalf of Sunday. Making slow progress through 
moral suasion, they seek a shorter path to the accomplishment 
of their purposes through political power. And why not ? 
Christianity has become popular, and her professed adherents 
are numerous. Why not avail themselves of the power of 
the ballot to secure their ends? Rev. J. S. Smart (Meth- 
odist), in a published sermon on the Political Duties of Chris- 
tian Men and Ministers, expresses a leading sentiment on this 
question, when he says: — 

" I claim that we have, and ought to have, just as much 
concern in the government of this country as any other men. 
. . . We are the mass of the people. Virtue in this country 
is not weak; her ranks are strong in numbers, and invincible 
from the righteousness of her cause, — invincible if united. 
Let not her ranks be broken by party names." 

In accordance with the logical development of these feel- 
ings, an association has been formed, now called " The National 
Reform Association," which has for its object the securing of 
legal enactments for religious institutions, by means of such 
an amendment to the national Constitution as shall " place all 
Christian laws, institutions, and usages of the government on 
an undeniable legal basis in the fundamental law of the land." 
Here is the germ of religious revolution, the entering wedge 
of church and state. 

This movement originated at Xenia, Ohio, in February, 
1863, in a convention composed of eleven different religious 
denominations, who assembled for prayer and conference. 

To be sure the leaders in this movement disclaim vehe- 
mently any such purpose as a union of church and state ; but 
a sentence now and then escapes them which reveals more than 
they intended. Thus, in the Pittsburgh Convention, Dr. Ste- 
venson said: — 

" Through the immense largesses it receives from corrupt 
politicians, the Roman Catholic Church is, practically, the es- 
tablished church of the city of New York. These favors are 
granted under the guise of a seeming friendliness to religion. 
We propose to put the substance for the shadow, — to drive out 
the counterfeit by the completer substitution of the true." 



684 



THE REVELATION 



There are several guess-roads through which we may look 
for the intent of this language ; but inasmuch as they all arrive 
at one conclusion, this conclusion is neither ambiguous nor 
doubtful; it is simply that the Protestant Church shall become 
really established, as the Roman Catholic now is practically. 
This is confirmed by the very next sentence, which reads: — 

" What we propose is nothing of a sectarian character. It 
will give no branch of American Christians any advantage 
over any other." 

Professor Blancharcl undertakes to give a definition of what 
they mean by a " union of church and state," as follows : — 

" But union of church and state is the selection by the 
nation of one church, the endowment of such a church, the 
appointment of its officers, and the oversight of its doctrines. 
For such a union, none of us plead. To such a union we are 
all of us opposed." 

The reader is requested to mark this well. Here is given a 
definition of a union of church and state such as no one expects 
or fears ; such, in fact, as is not possible in the existing state of 
the churches, and then a special plea is set up that they are 
opposed to a union of church and state ! To such an impossible 
combination as they describe, they may safely write themselves 
opposed; but to a union of church and state in the popular 
sense of the phrase, — a union, not of one church, but of all 
the churches recognized as orthodox, or evangelical, — a union 
not giving the state power to elect church officers nor to take 
the oversight of church doctrines, but giving the churches the 
privilege of enforcing, by civil laws, institutions and usages 
of religion, according to the faith of the churches, or to the 
construction put upon those institutions and usages by the 
churches, — to such a union, we say, they are not opposed. 
They are essentially and practically, despite their professions, 
open advocates of a union of church and state. 

We are not alone in this view of the subject. Mr. G. A. 
Townsend (New World and Old, p. 212) says: — 

" Church and state has several times crept into American 
politics, as in the contentions over the Bible in the public 
schools, the anti-Catholic party of 1844, etc. Our people 



CHAPTER 13, VERSES 11 - 17 



685 



have been wise enough heretofore to respect the clergy in all 
religious questions, and to entertain a wholesome jealousy of 
of them in politics. The latest politico-religious movement 
[italics ours] is to insert the name of the Deity in the Con- 
stitution." 

The Christian Union, January, 1871, said: — 

" If the proposed amendment is anything more than a hit 
of sentimental cant, it is to have a legal effect. It is to alter 
the status of the nonchristian citizen before the law. It is to 
affect the legal oaths and instruments, the matrimonial con- 
tracts, the sumptuary laws, etc., etc., of the country. This 
would be an outrage on natural right." 

The Janesville (Wis.) Gazette, at the close of an article 
on the proposed amendment, speaks thus of the effect of the 
movement, should it succeed: — 

" But, independent of the question as to what extent we 
are a Christian nation, it may well be doubted whether, if the 
gentlemen who are agitating this question should succeed, they 
would not do society a very great injury. Such measures are 
but the initiatory steps which ultimately lead to restrictions of 
religious freedom, and to commit the government to measures 
which are as foreign to its powers and purposes as would be its 
action if it should undertake to determine a disputed question 
of theology." 

The Weekly Alta Calif ornian, of San Francisco, March 12, 
1870, said: — 

" The parties who have been recently holding a convention 
for the somewhat novel purpose of procuring an amendment 
to the Constitution of the United States recognizing the Deity, 
do not fairly state the case when they assert that it is the 
right of a Christian people to govern themselves in a Christian 
manner. If we are not governing ourselves in a Christian 
manner, how shall the doings of our government be designated ? 
The fact is, that the movement is one to bring about in this 
country that union of church and state which all other na- 
tions are trvino; to dissolve." 

The Champlain Journal, speaking of incorporating the re- 



686 



THE REVELATION 



ligious principle into the Constitution, and its effect upon the 
Jews, said: — 

" However slight, it is the entering wedge of church and 
state. If we may cut oif ever so few persons from the right 
of citizenship on account of difference of religious belief, then 
with equal justice and propriety may a majority at any time 
dictate the adoption of still further articles of belief, until our 
Constitution is but a text-book of a sect, beneath whose tyran- 
nical sway all liberty of religious opinion will be eruslied." 

Petitions and remonstrances are both being circulated with 
activity; and shrewd observers, who have watched the move- 
ment with a jealous eye, and heretofore hoped it would amount 
to nothing, now confess that it " is formidable." ^o move- 
ment of equal magnitude of purpose has ever sprung up and 
become strong, and secured favor so rapidly as this. Indeed, 
none of equal magnitude has ever been sprung upon the Amer- 
ican mind, as this aims to remodel the whole framework of our 
government, and give to it a strong religious cast, — a thing 
which the framers of our Constitution were careful to exclude 
from it. They not only ask that the Bible, God, and Christ 
shall be recognized in the Constitution, but that it shall indi- 
cate this as " a Christian nation, and place all Christian laws, 
institutions, and usages of the government, on an undeniable 
legal basis in the fundamental law of the land. 7 ' 

Of course, appropriate legislation will be required to carry 
such amendments into effect, and somebody will have to decide 
what are " Christian laws and institutions." From what we 
learn of such movements in the past in other countries, and of 
the temper of the churches of this country, and of human 
nature when it has power suddenly conferred upon it, we look 
for no good from this movement. From a lengthy article 
in the Lansing (Mich.) State Bepubliean in reference to the 
Cincinnati Convention, held in 1S72, we take the following 
extract : — 

" Eow there are hundreds and thousands of moral and pro- 
fessedly Christian people in this nation to-day ivho do not 
recognize the doctrine of the Trinity, — do not recognize Jesus 
Christ the same as God. And there are hundreds and thou- 



CHAPTER 13, VERSES 11 - 17 



687 



sands of men and women who do not recognize the Bible as 
the revelation of God. The attempt to make any such amend- 
ment to the Constitution would be regarded by a large minor- 
ity, perhaps a majority, of our nation as a palpable violation 
of liberty of conscience. Thousands of men, if called upon 
to vote for such an amendment, would hesitate to vote against 
God, although they might not believe that the amendment is 
necessary or that it is right; and such men would either vote 
affirmatively or not at all. In every case, such an amendment 
would be likely to receive an affirmative vote which would by 
no means indicate the true sentiment of the people. And the 
same rule would hold good in relation to the adoption of such 
an amendment by Congress or by the legislatures of three 
quarters of the states. Men who make politics a trade would 
hesitate to record their names against the proposed Constitu- 
tional Amendment, advocated by the leaders of the great relig- 
ious denominations of the land, and indorsed by such men as 
Bishop Simpson, Bishop Mcllvaine, Bishop Eastburn, Presi- 
dent Finney, Professor Lewis, Professor Seelye, Bishop Hunt- 
ington, Bishop Kerfoot, Dr. Patterson, Dr. Cuyler, and many 
other divines who are the representative men of their respective 
denominations." 

Among the first bills to be presented to the United States 
Congress on its assembling in December, 1895, was this same 
religious amendment of the Constitution. This shows the un- 
mitigated persistence with which this matter is to be pressed. 

~Not only the representative men of the churches are pledged 
to this movement, but governors, judges, and many of the most 
eminent men of the land, are working for it. W no doubts the 
poAver of the " representative men of the denominations " to 
rally the strength of their denominations to sustain this work 
at their call ? We utter no prophecy of the future ; it is not 
needed. Events transpire in these days faster than our minds 
are prepared to grasp them. Let us heed the admonition to 
" watch ! " and with reliance upon God, prepare for " those 
things which are coming on the earth." 

But it may be asked how the Sunday question is to be 
affected by the proposed Constitutional Amendment. Answer : 



688 



THE REVELATION 



The object, or, to say the least, one object of this amendment, 
is to put the Sunday institution on a legal basis, and compel its 
observance by the arm of the law. At the national convention 
held in Philadelphia, Jan. 18, 19, 1871, the following resolu- 
tion was among the first offered by the business committee: — 

" Resolved, That, in view of the controlling power of the 
Constitution in shaping state as well as national policy, it is 
of immediate importance to public morals and to social order, 
to secure such an amendment as will indicate that this is a 
Christian nation, and place all Christian laws, institutions, and 
usages in our government on an undeniable legal basis in the 
fundamental law of the nation, specially those which secure a 
proper oath, and which protect society against blasphemy, Sab- 
bath-breaking, and polygamy." 

By Sabbath-breaking is meant nothing else but Sunday- 
breaking. In a convention of the friends of Sunday, assembled 
Nov. 29, 1870, in New Concord, Ohio, one of the speakers is 
reported to have said : " The question [of Sunday observance] 
is closely connected with the National Reform Movement ; for 
until the government comes to know God and honor his law, 
we need not expect to restrain Sabbath-breaking corporations." 
Here, again, the idea of the legal enforcement of Sunday ob- 
servance stands foremost; and the same principle would apply 
equally to individuals. 

Once more: the Philadelphia Press of Dec. 5, 1870, stated 
that some Congressmen arrived in Washington by Sunday 
trains, December 4, on which the Christian Statesman com- 
mented as follows (we give italics as Ave find them) : — 

" 1, Not one of those men who thus violated the Sabbath 
is fit to hold any official position in a Christian nation. . . . 

" 2. The sin of these Congressmen is a national sin, because 
the nation hath not said to them in the Constitution, the su- 
preme rule for our public servants, 6 We charge you to serve 
us in accordance with the higher law of God.' These Sabbath- 
breaking railroads, moreover, are corporations created by the 
state, and amenable to it. The state is responsible to God for 
the conduct of these creatures which it calls into being. It is 
bound, therefore, to restrain them from this as from other 



CHAPTER 13, VERSES 11 - 17 



689 



crimes, and any violation of the Sabbath by any corporation 
should work immediate forfeiture of its charter. And the 
Constitution of the United States, with which all state legis- 
lation is required to be in harmony, should be of such a char- 
acter as to prevent any state from tolerating such infractions 
of fundamental moral law. 

" 3. Give us in the national Constitution the simple acknowl- 
edgment of the law of God as the supreme law of nations, and 
all the results indicated in this note will ultimately be secured. 
Let no one say that the movement does not contemplate suffi- 
ciently practical ends." 

Xo less significant is the fact that the Sunday agitation is 
appearing in other countries simultaneously with the Sunday 
movement in America. Who can explain the fact that Sunday 
seems everywhere coming to the front except on the ground 
that we have reached the time pointed out in the prophecy when 
such a movement should be seen? The Chester (Eng.) Chron- 
icle of July 9, 1881, reported a meeting of three thousand 
persons in Liverpool in favor of closing all public houses on 
Sunday. The Christian Statesman of July 22, 1880, gave 
information from England to the effect that a " Working-man's 
Lord's-day Rest Association " had been formed there, and that 
two of England's prime ministers, Beaconsfield and Gladstone, 
had given their voice against the opening of museums, etc., on 
Sunday. The same policy is enforced by some, at least, of the 
English in their dependencies. One of the first acts of the 
Marquis of Eipon, who was made viceroy of India in 1880, 
was, according to the Christian Weekly, to issue an order for- 
bidding official work of any kind on Sunday. 

In France the question is agitated. The senate having 
occasion to consider some proposed changes in the Sunday 
laws, an eminent senator, M. Barthelemy Saint Hilaire, accord- 
ing to the Erench journal Le Christianisme au 19e Siecle, of 
June 11, 1880, opened the eyes of his hearers by clear argu- 
ments showing that the seventh day, and not the first day, is 
the Sabbath of the Bible. 

In Switzerland and Germany this question is before the 
people. In the latter country, according to the New York 



690 



THE REVELATION 



Independent, a meeting was held a few years ago, numbering 
some five thousand persons, to encourage a more strict observ- 
ance of Sunday. Many of these were socialists. 

Austria also shares in the general movement. A New 
York paper, in January, 1883, published this item: — 

"A telegram from Vienna, Austria, says : 'A meeting of 
3,000 workmen was held to-day, at which a resolution was 
passed protesting against Sunday work. A resolution was 
also passed in favor of legal prohibition of newspaper and 
other work on that day.' " 

There is a local Sabbath (Sunday) Committee in many 
of the great cities, and an International Sabbath (Sunday) 
Association to secure the co-operation of other nations. This 
Association has its headquarters in Washington, D. C. 

Another organization, called the American Sabbath Union, 
has come into existence to forward the movement in behalf of 
Sunday observance ; and other reform organizations have swung 
into the same line. .Notable among these is the Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union, which has great strength in the 
United States, and many auxiliaries in other lands as well. 
This organization, having at first in view the one specific object 
of temperance reform, has now added to its declared intentions 
the enthroning of Christ in American politics, in order to se- 
cure, in this land, a theocracy, and the better observance of the 
Sunday. In this theocracy, of course, if established, theological 
leaders would be the interpreters of Christ's will, and their 
decisions be enforced upon the people by the civil law. And 
what would this be but the papacy over again, well called in 
the prophecy " an image " of that beast ? 

What these National Reformers desire and design to secure 
in their campaign, is expressed by one of the secretaries of 
said association, J. M. Foster, in the Christian Statesman, 
October, 1892. He says: — 

" But one danger lies in this : The church does not speak 
as a church. The American Sabbath Union has done a good 
work. The denominations have spoken. But the Christian 
organized church has not officially gone to Washington and 
spoken. The work there has been largely turned over to 



CHAPTER IS, VERSES 11-17 



691 



associations. But the voice of God, authoritative, official, is 
through his church. Should there not be joint action of the 
denominations in this ? They should, it would appear, appoint 
a joint committee to speak for God; and properly and coura- 
geously done, there can follow but the very same results. . . . 
Much is lost by the church failing officially to speak at the 
right time, and in the right place. Xo association is clothed 
with this authority. They are individual and social; but the 
church is divine. She can, and ought to, utter the voice of 
God in the halls of Congress, as an organized church." 

The italics are as we find them; but other declarations m 
the foregoing extract are equally deserving of emphasis. It 
may well be questioned whether any more arrogant and pom- 
pous words were uttered previous to the setting up of the papacy 
itself. What they complain that they lack, they of course 
intend to have. And look at the picture: The church (that is 
the different denominations, confederating on dogmas held in 
common, and represented by a " joint committee," — a cen- 
tral authority) is divine, and woe unto all dissenters from the 
authority of & divine church! 1 So said Rome in its palmiest 
days of dungeons, stakes, and blood; so she would say to-day 
had she the power; and so apostatized Protestantism will say 
when it gets the power ! And this " joint committee " is to 
" speak for God," "utter the voice of God" (a second vicege- 
rent of the Most High, now claimed as a monopoly by the 
pope), and authoritatively and officially lay upon Congress 
the commands of God, for it to perform! Such are the dark 
schemes for which these men are now working. Alas, that the 
realization of them should now stand as an attainable prospect 
before their eyes ! Did ever Rome ask for more ? And when 
these would-be spokesmen for God secure their object, will it 
not be, we still ask, Rome over again in a Protestant garb — 
a very image of the beast itself ? 

1 Since these words were written, a great and notable step toward the realization 
of this project has been taken by the Protestant churches of the United States, in the 
organization of a church federation embracing the leading Protestant churches in this 
country, for the purpose of bringing to bear upon city, state, and national govern- 
ment the combined influence and power of the churches in the_ field of moral re 
form. The first meeting of this federation was held in Carnegie Hall, New York 
City, in November, 1905, and another session is to be held in the near future. 
Thirty-two Protestant denominations are joined in this federation, and an invitation 
has been extended to the Roman Catholic Church to join the movement. 



692 



THE REVELATION 



Another most significant and alarming step toward the 
accomplishment of these evil designs, is the position taken by 
the great " Christian Endeavor " movement, which has arisen 
to a membership of millions within a few years, and is a 
common channel through which all denominations can work. 
The political functions of this great body are centered in a 
" Christian Citizenship League/' which boasts that it will have 
branches in every state, county, city, village, and hamlet in 
the United States, and see to it that only Christian men are 
put into office. What remarkable " conversions " will then 
take place ! How politicians will become " Christians," and 
the " millennium " hasten on ! At the great Christian En- 
deavor convention, held in Boston, Mass., July 10- 15, 1895, 
W. H. McMillan, as given in the published Proceedings, p. 
19, said: — 

" Here is a power that is going to wrest the control of 
affairs from the hands of political demagogues, and place it 
in the hands of Him who is King over all, and rules the world 
in righteousness. Our political leaders have been counting the 
saloon vote, the illiterate vote, and the stay-at-home vote, and 
all other elements that have hitherto entered into their can- 
vassings of probabilities ; but they have not yet learned to 
count the Christian Endeavor vote. I want to serve notice 
on them now that the time is drawing near when they will 
discover that a political revolution has occurred, and they will 
be found coming home from Washington and our state capitals 
without a job." 

These sentiments were cneered to the echo in the conven- 
tion ; and it is not difficult to foresee the effect they will have ; 
for they were intended for that class of men among whom they 
" will do the most good ; " that is, the body of average politi- 
cians, who, when threatened with a boycott, become the most 
abject sycophants on the face of the earth. 

All this, however, would be of no avail, if those who are 
really patriots at heart would awake to this danger before they 
find themselves committed to movements, the effects of which 
they did not foresee, and if the two houses of Congress would 
stand true to the Constitution which they are sworn to main- 



CHAPTER IS, VERSES 11 - 17 



693 



tain ; for this movement means nothing less than a subversion 
of that noble instrument. 

But alas ! Congress has already turned its back on its sa- 
cred trust to fawn upon the church influence so rapidly rising. 
When the managers of the World's Fair of 1893, in Chicago, 
asked Congress for an appropriation in their behalf, church- 
men brought their influence to bear upon the national legis- 
lators, and induced them to make it a condition of the gift 
that the gates of the Fair be closed on Sunday. In carrying 
this point a most remarkable scene occurred. A senator called 
for a Bible, and caused the clerk to read the fourth command- 
ment of the decalogue ; whereupon grave statesmen argued, 
and at length by vote decided, that the day enjoined by that 
commandment as the Sabbath, is Sunday! 

This was legislating upon a religious question, which the 
Constitution expressly forbids. (See Amendment I.) It broke 
down the barriers against the union of church and state, and 
opened the flood-gates for all the evils that invariably accom- 
pany such a union. The religious-amendment clergy hailed the 
event as a great triumph, and now openly boast that they have 
Congress in their hands, and can compel it to do their bid- 
ding. How far away, then, is that " image," the coming of 
which the Scriptures have foretold ? The outlines of every 
element necessary for its erection are clearly developed; all 
the agents sufficient for an assault upon the bulwarks of Amer- 
ican liberty are being rapidly enrolled and drilled ; the outposts 
have already been carried; and as these pages go to press, the 
leaders of this fatal revolution are again clamoring around the 
citadel of the nation's strength. It needs but another step to 
turn the nation entirely from its high commission as the con- 
servator of the principles of the gospel, — that is, to " render to 
Csesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things 
that are God's," — and lead it to form and foster a religious 
tyranny which will fetter the consciences of men, and crush 
out soul liberty among the people. And this tyranny will be 
as much more wicked than any that has gone before it, as 
men have now more light, and the experience of all the past 
to guide them. 



694 



THE REVELATION 



What the practical working of these changes will be is 
already made apparent. On the statute-books of most of the 
states of the American Union, are f onnd Sunday laws ; and as 
the agitation in behalf of the seventh day increases, religious 
zealots are not slow to use these laws to put the machinery of 
persecution in operation. Observers of the seventh day mani- 
fest no defiance of these laws in laboring on Sunday, as the 
higher law of God gives them an unalienable right to do; 
and they studiously refrain from disturbing others, or in any 
way infringing upon their rights, by boisterous or offensive 
labor. Yet it is construed to be " disturbance," if they are 
even seen anywhere at work, or even if it is known that they 
are at work anywhere, though unseen or unheard. If no other 
way appears for detection, they are searched out by ministers 
or church-members, or the police acting under their direction. 
Then folloAV arrest, conviction, and penalty by fine, imprison- 
ment, or the chain-gang. Up to Jan. 1, 1896, ninety arrests of 
this kind had been made, some of them under circumstances 
of great oppression and cruelty, and prisoners had served an 
aggregate of nearly fifteen hundred days in jail and chain- 
gangs. And from the windows of some of these jails these 
very seventh-day keepers, who were there confined in " durance 
vile " for not resting on Sunday, could behold on Sundays 
train-loads of workmen going to their labor, picknickers to 
their frolics, hunters to their game, and railroad cars to their 
traffic. But these, it is to be observed, were not keepers of 
the seventh day. National Reformers, years ago, professed to 
smile at the apprehensions of those who keep the seventh day, 
that their work would result in persecution. Kow they only 
smile a little more grimly and call for stricter laws — for the 
seventh-day people. 

Most of the state governments have in their constitutions, 
or in their adopted " Bill of Rights," provisions guaranteeing 
the fullest religious liberty ; and the inconsistency of legislating 
on religions questions, under these circumstances, is at once 
seen; while the treachery of oppressing people for opinion's 
sake, in such lands, is keenly felt. Every conceivable inven- 
tion is therefore resorted to, to make it appear that it is not 



CHAPTER IS, VERSES 11 - 17 



695 



religious persecution at all, but only the question of obedience 
to civil law. One of these inventions is that Sunday is only a 
civil institution, and its enforcement only a police regulation, 
a civil requirement necessary for the public good. But this is 
impossible ; for every one knows that Sunday in its origin, his- 
tory, and very nature, is a religious institution. ~No claims in 
its behalf would ever have been heard of, but for its religious 
basis. Hence any enactment to enforce it by pains and pen- 
alties is religious legislation and religious oppression. 

But if there is a law for it, should not that law be obeyed 
until repealed ? Every law that does not trench upon the do- 
main of conscience, if it becomes unacceptable to the people, 
should nevertheless be obeyed till it can be changed or re- 
pealed. But Sunday laws interfere with the conscience of the 
observer of another day, and for that reason cannot " bear upon 
all alike." And no true Christian can make his obedience to 
God depend upon the permission of his fellow men. It may 
be said again, In a country like the United States, do not 
majorities rule ? and must not their decisions be obeyed ? And 
the answer again is, Yes, in everything but questions of con- 
science, but never there. " Render . . . unto Caesar the things 
that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's." 
Men may legislate to guard the mutual rights of all members 
of society, but no further; and in this they will never infringe 
upon the rights of any one's conscience ; for a " good " con- 
science (1 Peter 3: 21) w r ill never invade the rights of others, 
like the polygamy of the Mormons, or the human sacrifices of 
the heathen. 

The founders of the American republic never intended that 
any trouble should arise, through the laws oi the land, over any 
question of conscience ; but they permitted the evil principle of 
religious laws to remain in their political structure, a principle 
sure to spring to life at the first opportunity. In the further 
development of religious truth, it is now found that these laws 
forbid men to render obedience to what the Bible requires of 
them, and thus conflict with their unalienable rights. Such 
laws, therefore, the Christian cannot regard, and the govern- 
ment, to be true to its professed principles, should wipe them 
44 



696 



THE REVELATION 



off the statute-books wherever found. But this the religio- 
political clergy will not permit ; and the nation is doomed ; for 
it will thus put itself in line with the religious despotisms of 
the past ; and the cry will go up from God's suffering children, 
" It is time for thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void 
thy law." Ps. 119: 126. 

And this work is not confined to America. In Switzerland, 
by an iniquitous application of a so-called " Factory Law/' in 
behalf of Sunday, the authorities have closed the large print- 
ing establishment of the Seventh-day Adventists, although state 
troops drill, and target practice is performed, on Sunday, with 
all the accompaniments of such exercises, in the campus im- 
mediately in front of the building. This has been repeated in 
London, where the office of a Seventh-day Adventist paper, 
The Present Truth, has been closed by the English authorities, 
on the same grounds. 

While, according to the prophecy, the " image " can be 
looked for only in the United States, the worship of the beast 
will prevail in other countries also; for all the world is to 
wonder after the beast. 

Some one may now say, As you expect this movement to 
carry, you must look for a period of religious persecution in 
the United States ; nay, more, you must take the position that 
all the saints of God are to be put to death; for the image 
is to cause that all who will not worship it shall be killed. 

A period of persecution has been for about fifty years 
expected and predicted. It has now begun, and is thus demon- 
strating the correctness of the application of the prophecy as 
set forth in this work; but it does not by any means follow 
that all, and we do not think that even many, will be put to 
death, though a decree to that effect will be promulgated; for, 
as the prophet elsewhere declares, God does not abandon his 
people to defeat in this dire conflict, but grants them a com- 
plete victory over the beast, his image, his mark, and the number 
of his name. Rev. 15:2. We further read respecting this 
earthly power, that he causeth all to receive a mark in their 
right hand or in their foreheads ; yet chapter 20 : 4 speaks of 
the people of God as those who do not receive the mark, nor 



CHAPTER IS, VERSES 11 - 17 



697 



worship the image. If, then, he could " cause " all to receive 
the mark, and yet all not actually receive it, in like manner his 
causing all to be put to death who will not worship the image 
does not necessarily signify that their lives are actually to be 
taken. 

But how can this be ? Answer : It evidently comes under 
that rule of interpretation in accordance with which verbs of 
action sometimes signify merely the will and endeavor to do 
the action in question, and not the actual performance of the 
thing specified. The late George Bush, Professor of Hebrew 
and Oriental Literature in New York City University, makes 
this matter plain. In his notes on Ex. 7 : 11 he says: — 

" It is a canon of interpretation of frequent use in the ex- 
position of the sacred writings that verbs of action sometimes 
signify merely the will and endeavor to do the action in ques- 
tion. Thus in Eze. 24: 13: 'I have purified thee, and thou 
wast not purged ; ' i. e., I have endeavored, used means, been 
at pains, to purify thee. John 5 : 44 : i How can ye believe 
which receive honor one of another ? ' i. e., endeavor to receive. 
Rom. 2:4: ' The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance ; ' 
i. e., endeavors, or tends, to lead thee. Amos 9:3: ' Though 
they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea;' i. e., 
though they aim to be hid. 1 Cor. 10:33: c I please all men ; ' 
i. e., endeavor to please. Gal. 5:4: ' Whosoever of you are 
justified by the law;' i. e., seek or endeavor to be justified. 
Ps. 69: 4: 6 They that destroy me are mighty; ' i. e., that en- 
deavor to destroy me; English, ' That would destroy me.' Acts 
7:26: 'And set them at one again ; ' i. e., wished and endeav- 
ored, English, 'Would have set them.' " 

So in the passage before us. He causes all to receive a 
mark, and all who will not worship the image to be killed ; 
that is, he wills, purposes, and endeavors to do this. He 
makes such an enactment ; passes such a law, but is not able 
to execute it; for God interposes in behalf of his people; and 
then those who have kept the word of Christ's patience are 
kept from falling in this hour of temptation, according to Rev. 
3 : 10 ; then those who have made God their refuge are kept 
from all evil, and no plague comes nigh their dwelling, accord- 



698 



THE REVELATION 



ing to Ps. 91:9, 10 ; then all who are found written in the 
book are delivered, according to Dan. 12 : 1 ; and, being victors 
over the beast and his image, they are redeemed from among 
men, and raise a song of triumph before the throne of God, 
according to Rev. 14 : 2-4. 

The objector may further say, You are altogether too credu- 
lous in supposing that the masses of our people, many of whom 
are either indifferent or wholly opposed to the claims of relig- 
ion, can be so far brought to favor the religious observance of 
Sunday that a general law can be promulgated in its behalf. 

We answer, The prophecy must be fulfilled, and if the 
prophecy requires such a revolution, it will be accomplished. 

To receive the mark of the beast in the forehead is, we un- 
derstand, to give the assent of the mind and judgment to his 
authority in the adoption of that institution which constitutes 
the mark. By parity of reasoning, to receive it in the hand 
would be to signify allegiance by some outward act. 1 

Verse 18. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding 
count the number of the beast; for it is the number of a man; and 
his number is Six hundred threescore and six. 

The Number of His Name. — The number of the beast, says 
the prophecy, " is the number of a man ; and his number .is 
Six hundred threescore and six" (666). This number, some 
attempt to find in the word hateinos, the " Latin " kingdom. 
Thus they make, by what rule we do not understand, L stand 
for 30; A, for 1; T, for 300; E, for 5; I, for 10; for 50; 
O, for 70; and S, for. 200; which numbers, added together, 
make 666. Deriving the number from the name in this man- 
ner must be regarded as rather conjectural than otherwise, see- 
ing that names making just that number can be found to almost 
jiny extent. We think we discover, however, a serious objection 
to the name here suggested. The number, says the prophecy, 
is the number of a man; and if it is to be derived from a 
name or title, the natural conclusion would be that it must be 
the name or title of some particular man. But in this we 



1 For a much more full exposition of this portion of the prophecy, se"e works 
entitled, " The Marvel of Nations," and " The Coming Conflict," for sale by the 
Southern Publishing Association, Nashville, Tenn, 




FROM A PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN IN THE VATICAN MUSEUM 



CHAPTER IS, VERSE 18 



701 



have the name of a people, or kingdom, not of " a man/' as 
the prophecy says. 

The most plausible name we have ever seen suggested as 
containing the nmnber of the beast, is the title which the pope 
applies to himself, and allows others to apply to him. That 
title is this : Vicarius Filii Dei, " Vicegerent of the Son of 
God. 7 ' Taking the letters out of this title which the Latins 
used as numerals, and giving them their numerical value, we 
have just 666. Thus we have V, 5; I, 1; C, 100 (a and r 
not used as numerals) ; I, 1 ; U (formerly the same as V), 5 
(s and / not used as numerals) ; I, 1 ; L, 50 ; I, 1 ; I, 1 ; D, 
500 (e not used as a numeral) ; I, 1. Adding these numbers 
together, we have just 666. 

This title has been placed upon the pope's crown. While 
the Vatican authorities have of late years shown a disposition 
not to make this title conspicuous, there is good evidence that it 
was formerly so used, and that at least one of the papal crowns 
bears this inscription. The following testimony on this point 
is given by the late Elder D. E. Scoles, of Washburn, Mo: — 

" I have met two men who declare that they have seen this 
specific crown; and their testimony is so perfectly in agree- 
ment that I am convinced that what they say is true. The 
first man was M. De Latti, a Sabbath-keeper who had pre- 
viously been a Catholic priest, and had spent four years in 
Rome. He visited me when I was pastor in St. Paul, Minn., 
several years ago. I showed him my tract, i The Seal of God 
and the Mark of the Beast.' He at once told me that the in- 
scription was not correctly placed in my illustration. He stated 
that he had often seen it in the museum at the Vatican, and 
gave a detailed and accurate description of the whole crown. 
When my tract was published, I was ignorant of the arrange- 
ment of the words of the Latin inscription, hence, in the illus- 
tration of the crown, placed them in one line. Brother De 
Latti at once pointed out the mistake, and said the first word 
of the sentence was on the first crown of the triple arrangement, 
the second word on the second part of the crown, while the 
word Dei was on the lower division of the triple crown. He 
also explained that the first two words were in dark-colored 



t02 



THE REVELATION 



jewels, while the Dei was composed of diamonds entirely. 

" During a tent-meeting which I held in Webb City, Mo., 
I presented the subject, ' The Seal of God and the Mark of the 
Beast.' I used charts to illustrate it, one being a reproduc- 
tion of the crown as Brother De Latti had described it. A 
Presbyterian minister was present, Rev. B. Hoffman, and when 
I described the crown, he spoke out publicly and made a state- 
ment to the congregation, saying that while in Rome studying 
for the priesthood, he had seen this very crown, and noted its 
inscription, and that the word Dei was composed of one hun- 
dred diamonds. I met him and learned his name, and visited 
him at his home, and was convinced from his description that 
this was the identical crown that Brother I)e Latti had seen, 
but which has been denied by many. I then asked him for a 
written statement, and he gave me the following: — 

" ' To Whom It May Concern: This is to certify that I 
was born in Bavaria in 1828, Avas educated in Munich, and 
was reared a Roman Catholic. In 1844 and 1845 I was a stu- 
dent for the priesthood in the Jesuit College in Rome. Dur- 
ing the Easter service of 1845, Pope Gregory XYI wore a 
triple crown upon which was the inscription, in jewels, Vicarius 
Filii Dei. We were told that there were one hundred diamonds 
in the word Dei; the other words were of some other kind of 
precious stones of a darker color. There was one word upon 
each crown, and not all on the same line. I was present at 
the service, and saw the crown distinctly, and noted it carefully. 

" ' In 1850 I was converted to God and to Protestantism. 
Two years later I entered the Evangelical Church ministry, 
but later in life I united with the Presbyterian Church ; of 
which I am now a retired pastor, having been in the ministry 
for fifty years. 

" ' I have made the above statement at the request of Elder 
D. E. Scoles, as he states that some deny that the pope ever 
wore this tiara. But I know that he did, for I saw it upon 
his head. 

" ' Sincerely yours in Christian service, 

(Signed) "'B. Hoffman. 

'"'Webb City, Mo., Oct. 29, 1906/" 



CHAPTER IS, VERSE 18 



703 



The following extract is from a work entitled The Reforma- 
tion, bearing the date of 1832 : — 

" ' Mrs. A.,' said Miss Emmons, ' I saw a very curious fact 
the other day ; I have dwelt upon it much, and will mention it. 
A person, lately, was witnessing a ceremony of the Romish 
Church. As the pope passed him in procession, splendidly 
dressed in his pontifical robes, the gentleman's eye rested on 
these full, blazing letters in front of his miter : " VIC AMU S 
FILII DEI," the Vicar of the Son of God. His thoughts, 
with the rapidity of lightning, reverted to Rev. 13 : 18.' 
6 Will you turn to it ? ' said Mrs. A. Alice opened the isTew 
Testament and read : ' Let him that hath understanding count 
the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and 
his number is Six hundred threescore and six. 7 She paused, 
and Miss Emmons said, ' He took out his pencil, and marking 
the numerical letters of the inscription on his tablet, it stood 
666.' " 

Here we have indeed the number of a man, even the " man 
of sin ; " and it is a little singular, perhaps providential, that 
he should select a title which shows the blasphemous character 
of the beast, and then cause it to be inscribed upon his miter, 
as if to brand himself with the number 666. The foregoing 
extract doubtless refers to a particular pope on a particular 
occasion. Other popes might not wear the title emblazoned 
on the miter, as there stated. But this does not affect the ap- 
plication at all ; for the popes all assume to be the " Vicar of 
Christ" (see Standard Dictionary under "vicar"), and the 
Latin words given above are the words which express that 
title, in the form " vicar of the Son of God ; " and their nu- 
merical .value is 666. 

Thus closes chapter 13, leaving the people of God with the 
powers of earth in deadly array against them, and the decrees 
of death and banishment from society Out upon them for their 
adherence to the truth. Spiritualism will be, at the time spec- 
ified, performing its most imposing wonders, deceiving all the 
world except the elect. Matt. 24:24; 2 Thess. 2:8-12. 
This will be the " hour of temptation," or trial, which is to 
come, as the closing test, upon all the world, to try them that 



T04 



TEE REVELATION 



dwell upon the earth, as mentioned in Rev. 3 : 10. What is 
the issue of this conflict ? This important inquiry is not left 
unanswered. The first five verses of the following chapter, 
which should have been numbered as a part of this, complete 
the chain of this prophecy, and reveal the glorious triumph of 
the champions of the truth. 




Verse 1. And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the Mount 
Sion, and with him a hundred forty and four thousand, having his 
Father's name written in their foreheads. 2. And I heard a voice 
from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great 
thunder : and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps : 
3. And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before 
the four beasts, and the elders : and no man could learn that song but 
the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from 
the earth. 4. These are they which were not denied with women; for 
they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whither- 
soever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the 
first-fruits unto God and to the Lamb. 5. And in their mouth was 
found no guile : for they are without fault before the throne of God. 

IT is a pleasing feature of the prophetic word that the 
people of God are never brought into positions of trial and 
difficulty, and there abandoned. Taking them down into 
scenes of danger, the voice of prophecy does not there cease, 
leaving them to guess their fate, in doubt, perhaps despair, 
as to the final result ; but it takes them through to the end, and 
shows the issue in every conflict. The first five verses of Rev- 
elation 14 are an instance of this. The 13th chapter closed 
with the people of God, a small and apparently weak and de- 
fenseless company, in deadly conflict with the mightiest powers 
of earth wdiich the dragon is able to muster to his service. A 
decree is passed, backed up by the supreme pow r er of the land, 
that they shall worship the image and receive the mark, under 
pain of death if they refuse to comply. What can the people 
of God do in such a conflict and in such an extremity ? What 

(705) 



706 



THE REVELATION 



will become of them ? Glance forward with the apostle to 
the very next scene in the program, and what do we behold ? 

— The very same company standing on Mount Zion with the 
Lamb, — a victorious company, harping on symphonic harps 
their triumph in the court of heaven. Thus are we assured 
that when the time of our conflict with the powers of darkness 
comes, deliverance is not only certain, but will immediately be 
given. 

That the 144,000 here seen on Mount Zion are the saints 
who were just before brought to view as objects of the wrath 
of the beast and his image, there are the very best of reasons 
for believing. 

1. They are identical with those sealed in Revelation 7, 
who have already been shown to be the righteous who are 
alive at the second coming of Christ. 

2. They are the overcomers in the sixth or Philadelphian 
state of the church. (See Rev. 3:11, 12.) 

3. They are "redeemed from among men" (verse 4), an 
expression which can be applicable only to those who are 
translated from among the living. Paul labored, if by any 
means he might attain to a resurrection out from among the 
dead. Phil. 3:11. This is the hope of those who sleep in 
Jesus, — a resurrection from the dead. A redemption from 
among men, from among the living, must mean a different 
thing, and can mean only one thing, and that is translation. 
Hence the 144,000 are the living saints, who will be trans- 
lated at the second coming of Christ. (See on verse 13, note.) 

On what Mount Zion does John see this company standing ? 

— The Mount Zion above ; for the voice of harpers, which no 
doubt is uttered by these very ones, is heard from heaven ; 
the same Zion from which the Lord utters his voice when he 
speaks to his people in close connection with the coming of the 
Son of man. Joel 3:16; Heb. 12 : 26 - 28 ; Rev. 16 : 17. A 
just consideration of the fact that there is a Mount Zion in 
heaven, and a Jerusalem above, would be a powerful antidote 
for the hallucination of the doctrine known as " The Age to 
Come." 

A few more particulars only respecting the 144,000 in 



CHAPTER lk, VERSES 1 - 5 



TOT 



addition to those given in chapter T, will claim notice in these 
brief remarks. 

1. They have the name of the Lamb's Father in their fore- 
heads. In chapter T, they are said to have the seal of God in 
their foreheads. An important key to an understanding of 
the seal of God is thus furnished us ; for we at once perceive 
that the Father regards his name as his seal. That command- 
ment of the law which contains God's name is therefore the 
seal of the law. The Sabbath commandment is the only one 
which has this ; that is, that contains the descriptive title which 
distinguishes the true God from all false gods. Wherever this 
was placed, there the Father's name was said to be (Dent. 
12: 5, 14, 18, 21; 14: 23; 16 : 2, 6; etc.) ; and whoever keeps 
this commandment has, consequently, the seal of the living God. 

2. They sing a new song which no other company is able 
to learn. In chapter 15 : 3, it is called the song of Moses and 
the song of the Lamb. The song of Moses, as may be seen by 
reference to Exodus 15, was the song of his experience and 
deliverance. Therefore the song of the 144,000 is the song 
of their deliverance. _Xo others can join in it; for no other 
company will have had an experience like theirs. 

3. They were not defiled with women. A woman is in 
Scripture the symbol of a church, a virtuous woman represent- 
ing a pure church, a corrupt woman an apostate church. It is, 
then, a characteristic of this company that at the time of their 
deliverance they are not defiled with, or have no connection 
with, the fallen churches of the land. Yet we are not to under- 
stand that they never had any connection with these churches; 
for it is only at a certain time that people become defiled by 
them. In chapter 18:4, we find a call issued to the people 
of God while they are in Babylon, to come out, lest they 
become partakers of her sins. Heeding that call, and leaving 
her connection, they escape the defilement of her sins. So 
of the 144,000 ; though some of them may have once had a 
connection with corrupt churches, they sever that connection 
when it would become sin to retain it longer. 

4. They follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. We un- 
derstand that this is spoken of them in their redeemed state, 



708 



THE REVELATION 



They are the special companions of their glorified Lord in the 
kingdom. Chapter 7 : 17, speaking of the same company and 
at the same time, says, " For the Lamb which is in the midst 
of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living- 
fountains of waters." 

5. They are " first-fruits " unto God and the Lamb. This 
term appears to be applied to different ones to denote especial 
conditions. Christ is the first-fruits as the antitype of the 
wave-sheaf. The first receivers of the gospel are called by 
James (chapter 1: IS) a kind of first-fruits. So the 144,000, 
ripening up for the heavenly garner here on earth during the 
troublous scenes of J:he last days, being translated to heaven 
without seeing death, and occupying a pre-eminent position, 
are, in this sense, as would seem very consistent, called first- 
fruits unto God and the Lamb. With this description of the 
144,000 triumphant, the line of prophecy commencing with 
chapter 12 comes to a close. 

Verse 6. And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, hav- 
ing the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, 
and to every nation, and kindred, and tongne, and people, 7. Saying 
with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of 
his judgment is come : and worship him that made heaven, and earth, 
and the sea, and the fountains of waters. 8. And there followed an- 
other angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, be- 
cause she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her 
fornication. 9. And the third angel followed them, saying with a 
loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive 
his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, 10. The same shall drink of 
the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture 
into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire 
and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence 
of the Lamb : 11. And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up 
forever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship 
the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his 
name. 12. Here is the patience of the saints : here are they that 
keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. 

The First Message. — Another scene and another chain of 
prophetic events is introduced in these verses. We know that 
this is so, because the preceding verses of this chapter describe 
a company of the redeemed in the immortal state — a scene 
which constitutes a part of the prophetic chain commencing 




THE EVERLASTING GOSPEL 



CHAPTER 11+, VERSES 6 - 12 



711 



with the first verse of chapter 12, and with which that chain 
of events closes ; for no prophecy goes beyond the immortal 
state ; and whenever we are brought in a line of prophecy to 
the end of the world, we know that that line there ends, and 
that what is introduced subsequently belongs to a new series of 
events. The Revelation in particular is composed of these 
independent prophetic chains, as has already been set forth, 
of which fact, previous to this instance, we have had a number 
of examples. 

The messages described in these verses are known as " the 
three angel's messages of Revelation 14." We are justified 
in applying to them the ordinals, first second, and third, by 
the prophecy itself ; for the last one is distinctly called " the 
third angel," from which it follows that the one preceding was 
the second angel; and the one before that, the first angel. 

These angels are evidently symbolic; for the work assigned 
them is that of preaching the everlasting gospel to the people. 
But the preaching of the gospel has not been intrusted to 
literal angels ; it has been committed unto men, who are re- 
sponsible for this sacred trust placed in their hands. Each 
of these three angels, therefore, symbolizes a body of religious 
teachers, who are commissioned to make known to their fellow 
men the special truths which constitute the burden of these 
messages respectively. 

But we are to consider further that angels, literally, are 
intensely interested in the work of grace among men, being 
sent forth to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation. 
And as there is order in all the movements and appointments 
of the heavenly world, it may not be fanciful to suppose that 
a literal angel has charge and oversight of the work of each 
message. Heb. 1 : 14 ; Rev. 1:1; 22 : 16. 

In these symbols we see the sharp contrast the Bible draws 
between earthly and heavenly things. Wherever earthly gov- 
ernments are to be represented, — even the best of them, — 
the most appropriate symbol that can be found is a cruel and 
ravenous wild beast ; but when the work of God is to be set 
forth, an angel, clad in beauty and girt with power, is taken 
to symbolize it. 
45 



712 



THE REVELATION 



The importance of the work set forth in the verses last 
quoted will be apparent to any one who will attentively study 
them. Whenever these messages are due, and are proclaimed, 
they must, from the very nature of the case, constitute the 
great theme of interest for that generation. We do not mean 
that the great mass of mankind then living will give them 
attention; for in every age of the world, the present truth 
for that time has been generally overlooked; but they will 
constitute the theme to which the people would pay most 
earnest regard if they were awake to that which concerns their 
highest interests. When God commissions his ministers to 
announce to the world that the hour of his judgment is come, 
that Babylon has fallen, and that whoever worships the beast 
and his image must drink of his wrath poured out unmingled 
into the cup of his indignation, — a threatening more terrible 
than any other which can be found in the Scriptures of truth, 
— no man, except at the peril of his soul, can treat these warn- 
ings as nonessential, passing them by with neglect and disre- 
gard. Hence the necessity for the most earnest endeavor in 
every age, and especially in the present age, when so many 
evidences betoken the soon-coming of earth's final crisis, to 
understand the work of the Lord, lest we lose the benefit of 
the present truth. 

This angel of Rev. 14:6 is called " another angel," from 
the fact that John had previously seen an angel flying through 
heaven in a similar manner, as described in chapter 8 : 13, 
proclaiming that the last three of the series of seven trumpets 
were woe trumpets. This was near the close of the sixth 
century. (See under chapter 8:12.) 

The first point to be determined is the chronology of this 
message. When may the proclamation, " The hour of his 
judgment is come," be consistently expected ? The bare possi- 
bility that it may be in our own day renders it very becoming 
in us to examine this question with serious attention; but the 
great probability, nay, more, the positive proof that this is so, 
which will appear in the development of this argument, should 
set every pulse bounding, and every heart beating high with a 
sense of the thrilling importance of this hour. 



CHAPTER lk, VERSES 6 - 12 



713 



Three positions only are possible on this question of the 
chronology of this prophecy, and as might be expected, all of 
them are taken by different expositors. These positions are 
(1) That this message has been given in the past; as, first, 
in the days of the apostles ; or secondly, in the days of the 
Reformers; (2) that it is to be given in a future age; or (3) 
that it belongs to the present generation. 

We inquire, first, respecting the past. The very nature of 
the message forbids the idea that it could have been given in 
the apostles' days. They did not proclaim that the hour of 
God's judgment had come. If they had, it would not have 
been true, and their message would have been stamped with 
the infamy of falsehood. They did have something to say, 
however, respecting the judgment; but they pointed to an in- 
definite future for its accomplishment. In Matt. 10: 15; 11: 
21-24, a quotation from Christ's own words, the judgment of 
Sodom and Gomorrah, Tyre, Siclon, Chorazin, and Capernaum, 
was located indefinitely in the future from that day. Paul 
declared to the superstitious Athenians that God had appointed 
a day in which he would judge the world. Acts 17 : 31. He 
reasoned before Felix " of righteousness, temperance, and 
judgment to come." Acts 24: 25. To the Romans he wrote, 
directing their minds forward to a day when God should judge 
the secrets of men by Jesus Christ. Rom. 2:16. He pointed 
the Corinthians forward to a time when we must all appear 
before the judgment seat of Christ. 2 Cor. 5:10. James 
wrote to the brethren scattered abroad that they were, at some 
time in the future, to be judged by the law of liberty. James 
2:12. And both Peter and Jude speak of the first rebel 
angels as reserved unto the judgment of the great day, still in 
the future at that time ( 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6 ) , to which the 
ungodly in this world are also reserved. 2 Peter 2 : 9. How 
different is all this from ringing out upon the world the start- 
ling declaration that " the hour of his judgment is come ! " — 
a sound which must be heard whenever the solemn message 
before us is fulfilled. 

From the days of the apostles nothing has taken place which 
any one, so far as we are aware, could construe into a sugges- 



714 



THE REVELATION 



tion of the fulfilment of the message, till we come to the Refor- 
mation of the sixteenth century. Here some seem disposed to 
make quite a determined stand, claiming that Luther and his 
colaborers gave the first message, and that the two following 
messages have been given since his day. This is a question 
to be decided by historical fact rather than by argument; and 
hence we inquire for the evidence that the Reformers made 
any such proclamation. Their teaching has been very fully 
recorded, and their writings preserved. When and where did 
they arouse the world with the proclamation that the hour of 
God's judgment had come ? We find no record that such was 
the burden of their preaching at all. On the contrary, it is 
recorded of Luther that he placed the judgment some three 
hundred years in the future from his day. Such records ought 
to be decisive, so far as the Reformers are concerned. 

The foregoing considerations being sufficient to forbid ut- 
terly the application of the message to the past, we now turn to 
that view which locates it in a future age. By " future age " 
is meant a period subsequent to the second advent; and the 
reason urged for locating the message in that age is the fact 
that John saw the angel flying through heaven, immediately 
after having seen the Lamb standing on Mount Zion with the 
144,000, which is a future event. If the book of Revelation 
were one consecutive prophecy, there would be force in this 
reasoning; but as it consists of a series of independent lines 
of prophecy, and as it has already been shown that one such 
chain ends with verse 5 of this chapter, and a new one begins 
with verse 6, the foregoing view cannot be urged. To show 
that the message cannot have its fulfilment in a future age, 
it will be sufficient to remark: — 

1. The apostolic commission extended only to the " har- 
vest," which is the end of the world. If, therefore, this angel 
with the " everlasting gospel " comes after that event, he 
preaches another gospel, and subjects himself to the anathema 
of Paul in Gal. 1: 8. . 

2. The second message cannot, of course, be given before 
the first; but the second message announces the fall of Baby- 
lon, and a voice is heard from heaven after that, saying, 



CHAPTER lk, VERSES 6 - 12 



715 



" Come out of her, my people." How absurd to locate this 
after the second advent of Christ, seeing that all God's people, 
both living and dead, are at that time caught up to meet the 
Lord in the air, to be thenceforth forever with him. They 
cannot be called out of Babylon after this. Christ does not 
take them to Babylon, but to the Father's house, where there 
are many mansions. John 14:2, 3. 

3. A glance at the third angel's message, which must be 
fulfilled in a future age if the first one is, will still further 
show the absurdity of this view. This message warns against 
the worship of the beast, which refers, beyond question, to the 
papal beast. But the pajDal beast is destroyed and given to 
the burning flame when Christ comes. Dan. 7:11; 2 Thess. 
2 : 8. He goes into the lake of fire at that time, to disturb 
the saints of the Most High no more. Rev. 19 : 20. Why will 
people involve themselves in the absurdity of locating a mes- 
sage against the worship of the beast at a time when the beast 
has ceased to exist, and his worship is impossible ? 

In verse 13 of Revelation 11, a blessing is pronounced upon 
the dead which die in the Lord " from henceforth ; " that is, 
from the time the third message begins to be given. This is a 
complete demonstration of the fact that the message must be 
given prior to the first resurrection; for after that event all 
who have a part therein (and this includes all, both living 
and dead, who are not assigned to the second death) become 
as the angels of God, and can die no more. We therefore 
dismiss this view concerning the future age as unscriptural, 
absurd, and impossible. 

We are now prepared to examine the third view, that the 
message belongs to the present generation. The argument on 
the two preceding points has done much to establish the pres- 
ent proposition ; for if the message has not been given in the 
past, and cannot be given in the future after Christ comes, 
where else can we locate it but in the present generation, if 
we are in the last days, as we suppose ? Indeed, the very 
nature of the message itself confines it to the last generation 
of men. It proclaims the hour of God's judgment come. But 
the judgment pertains to the closing up of the work of sal- 



716 



THE REVELATION 



vation for the world; and the proclamation announcing its 
approach can therefore be made only as we come near the 
end. It is further shown that the message belongs to the 
present time when it is proved that this angel is identical 
with the angel of Revelation 10, who utters his message in 
this generation. That the first angel of Revelation 14 and 
the angel of Revelation 10 are identical, see argument on the 
latter chapter. 

But the strongest and most conclusive evidence that the 
message belongs to the present time will consist in finding 
some movement in this generation through which its fulfilment 
has been, or is going forward. On this point we refer to a 
movement of which it would now be hard to find any one 
who is wholly ignorant. It is the great Advent movement of 
the last century. As early as 1831, Wm. Miller, of Low 
Hampton, ~N. Y., by an earnest and consistent study of the 
prophecies, was led to the conclusion that the gospel dispensa- 
tion was near its close. He placed the termination, which he 
thought would occur at the end of the prophetic periods, about 
the year 1843. This date was afterward extended to the 
autumn of 1844. (See diagram and argument under Dan. 
9:24-27.) We call his investigations a consistent study of 
the prophecies, because he adopted that rule of interpretation 
which will be found lying at the base of every religious refor- 
mation, and of every advance movement in prophetic knowl- 
edge; namely, to take all the language of the Scriptures, just 
as we would that of any other book, to be literal, unless the 
context or the laws of language require it to be understood 
figuratively; and to let scripture interpret scripture. True, 
on a vital point he made a mistake, as will be explained here- 
after; but in principle, and in a great number of particulars, 
he was correct. He was on the right road, and made an im- 
mense advance over every theological system of his day. When 
he began to promulgate his views, they met with general favor, 
and were followed by great religious awakenings in different 
parts of the land. Soon a multitude of colaborers gathered 
around his standard, among whom may be mentioned such 
men as B. G. Brown, Chas. Bitch, Josiah Bitch, J. Y. Himes, 



CHAPTER U, VERSES 6-12 717 

and others, who were then eminent for piety, and men of 
influence in the religions world. The period marked by the 
years 1840 - 1844 was one of intense activity and great progress 
in this work. A message was proclaimed to the world which 
bore every characteristic of a fulfilment of the proclamation 
of Rev. 14: 6, 7. The preaching was emphatically such as 
might be called the everlasting (age-lasting) gospel. It per- 
tained to the closing np of this age, and the incoming of the 
everlasting age ( a.iu>v ) of the King of righteousness. It was 
that gospel of the kingdom which Christ declared should be 
preached in all the world for a witness nnto all nations, and 
then the end should come. Matt. 24 : 14. The fulfilment of 
either of these scriptures involves the preaching of the near- 
ness of the end. The gospel could not be preached to all 
nations as a sign of the end, unless it was understood to be 
snch, and the proximity of the end was at least one of its lead- 
ing themes. The Advent Herald of Dec. 14, 1850, well ex- 
pressed the truth on this point in the following language : — 

"As an indication of the approach of the end, there was, 
however, to be seen another angel flying through the midst of 
heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach nnto them that 
dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and 
tongue, and people. Rev. 14: 6. The burden of this angel 
was to be the same gospel which had been before proclaimed; 
but connected with it was the additional motive of the 'prox- 
imity of the kingdom — i saying with a loud voice, Fear God, 
and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: 
and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, 
and the fountains of waters.' Verse 7. ~No mere preaching 
of the gospel, without announcing its proximity, could fulfil 
this message.' 7 

The persons who were engaged in this movement supposed 
it to be a fulfilment of prophecy, and claimed that they were 
giving the message of Rev. 14: 6, 7. 

With this movement also began the fulfilment of the para- 
ble of the ten virgins, recorded in Matthew 25, which our Lord 
uttered to illustrate and enforce the doctrine of his second 
coming and the end of the world, which he had just set forth 



718 



THE REVELATION 



in Matthew 24, Those who became interested in this move- 
ment went forth to meet the Bridegroom; that is, they were 
aroused to expect the coming of Christ, and to look and wait 
for his return from heaven. The Bridegroom tarried. The 
first point of expectation, the close of the year 1843, Avhich 
according to Jewish reckoning ended in the spring of 1844, 
passed by, and the Lord did not come. While he tarried, they 
all slumbered and slept. Surprised by the unexpected doubt 
and uncertainty into which they were thrown, the interest of 
the people began to wane, and their efforts to flag. At mid- 
night there was a cry made, " Behold, the Bridegroom cometh ! 
go ye out to meet him." Midway between the spring of 
1844, where it was at first supposed that the 2300 days would 
terminate, and that point in the autumn of 1844 to which it 
was afterward ascertained that they really extended, just such 
a cry as this was suddenly raised. Involuntarily, this very 
phraseology was adopted: " Behold, the Bridegroom cometh.' 7 
The cause of this sudden arousing was the discovery that the 
great prophetic period of 2300 days (years) of Dan. 8:14 
did not end in the spring of 1844, but would extend to the 
autumn of that year, and consequently that the time at which 
they supposed they were warranted to look for the appearing 
of the Lord had not passed by, but was indeed at the door. 
At the same time, the relation between the type and the anti- 
type relating to the cleansing of the sanctuary was partially 
seen. The prophecy declared that at the end of the 2300 days 
the sanctuary should be cleansed; and as in the type the sanc- 
tuary was cleansed on the tenth day of the seventh month of 
the Jewish year, that point in the autumn of 1844 was accord- 
ingly fixed upon for the termination of the 2300 years. It 
fell on the 22d of October. Between the mid-summer of 
1844, when the light on these subjects was first seen, and the 
day and month above named when the 2300 years terminated, 
perhaps no movement ever exhibited greater actitvity than this 
respecting the soon coming of Christ, and in no cause was ever 
more accomplished in «o short a space of time. A religious 
wave swept over this country, and the nation was stirred as 
no people have been stirred since the opening of the great 



CHAPTER U, VERSES 6 - 12 



719 



Reformation of the sixteenth century. This was called the 
" seventh-month movement/' and was more particularly con- 
fined to the United States and Canada. 

But the general movement respecting the second advent of 
Christ, and the proclamation that " the hour of his judgment 
is come/' was not confined to this hemisphere. It was world- 
wide. It fulfilled in this respect the proclamation of the angel 
" to every nation and kindred and tongue and people." In 
Advent Tracts, Vol. II, p. 135, Mourant Brock, an English 
writer, is quoted as saying: — 

" It is not merely in Great Britain that the expectation of 
the near return of the Redeemer is entertained, and the voice 
of warning raised, hut also in America, India, and on the con- 
tinent of Europe. In America, about three hundred ministers 
of the word are thus preaching ' this gospel of the kingdom ; ' 
while in this country [Great Britain], about seven hundred of 
the Church of England are raising the same cry." 

Dr. Joseph Wolff traveled in Arabia Eelix, through the 
region inhabited by the descendants of ITobab, Moses' father- 
in-law. In his Mission to Bokhara, he speaks as follows of 
a book which he saw in Yemen : — 

" The Arabs of this place have a book called ' Seera/ 
which treats of the second coming of Christ, and his reign 
in glory! In Yemen I spent six days with the Rechabites. 
' They drink no wine, plant no vineyards, sow no seed, live 
in tents, and remember the words of Jonadab, the son of 
Rechab.' With them were the children of Israel of the tribe 
of Dan, who reside near Terim in Hatramawt, who expect, 
in common with the children of Rechab, the speedy arrival 
of the Messiah in the clouds of heaven/' 

The Voice of the Church, by D. T. Taylor, pp. 342 - 344, 
speaks as follows concerning the wide diffusion of the advent 
sentiment : — 

" In Wurtemberg, there is a Christian colony numbering 
hundreds, who look for the speedy advent of Christ; also 
another of like belief on the shores of the Caspian; the Molo- 
kaners, a large body of Dissenters from the Russian Greek 
Church, residing on the shores of the Baltic — a very pious 



720 



THE REVELATION 



people, of whom it is said, ' Taking the Bible alone for their 
creed, the norm of their faith i-s simply the Holy Scriptures ' — 
are characterized by the 1 expectation of Christ's immediate and 
visible reign upon earth.' In Russia, the doctrine of Christ's 
coming and reign is preached to some extent, and received by 
many of the lower class. It has been extensively agitated in 
Germany, particularly in the south part among the Moravians. 
In Norway, charts and books on the advent have been circu- 
lated extensively, and the doctrine has been received by many. 
Among the Tartars in Tartary, there prevails an expectation of 
Christ's advent about this time. English and American publi- 
cations on this doctrine have been sent to Holland, Germany, 
India, Ireland, Constantinople, Rome, and to nearly every 
missionary station on the globe. At the Turk's Islands, it 
has been received to some extent among the Wesleyans. 

" Mr Fox, a Scottish missionary to the Teloogoo people, 
was a believer in Christ's soon coming. James McGregor 
Bertram, a Scottish missionary of the Baptist order at St. 
Helena, has sounded the cry extensively on that island, making 
many converts and premillennialists ; he has also preached it at 
South Africa at the missionary stations there. David N. Lord 
informs us that a large j3roportion of the missionaries who have 
gone from Great Britain to make known the gospel to the 
heathen, and who are now laboring in Asia and Africa, are 
millenarians ; and Joseph Wolff, D. D., according to his jour- 
nals, between the years 1821 and 1845, proclaimed the Lord's 
speedy advent in Palestine, Egypt, on the shores of the Red 
Sea, Mesopotamia, the Crimea, Persia, Georgia, throughout 
the Ottoman empire, in Greece, Arabia, Toorkistan, Bokhara, 
Afghanistan, Cashmere, Hindustan, Thibet, Holland, Scotland, 
and Ireland, at Constantinople, Jerusalem, St. Helena, also on 
shipboard in the Mediterranean, and at New York City to 
all denominations. He declares he has preached among Jews, 
Turks, Mohammedans, Parsees, Hindus, Chaldeans, Yeseedes, 
Syrians, Sabeans, to pashas, sheiks, shahs, the kings of Or- 
gantsh and Bokhara, the queen of Greece, etc. ; and of his 
extraordinary labors the Investigator says, 1 No individual has, 
perhaps, given greater publicity to the doctrine of the second 



CHAPTER Ik, VERSES 6 - 12 



721 



coming of the Lord Jesus Christ than has this well-known 
missionary to the world. Wherever he goes, he proclaims the 
approaching advent of the Messiah in glory.' " 

Elder J. Andrews, in his work on The Three Messages 
of Revelation 14: 6 - 12, pp. 32 - 35, speaks as follows concern- 
ing the message under consideration: — 

" ^Tone can deny that this world-wide warning of impending 
judgment has been given. The nature of the evidence adduced 
in its support now claims our attention, as furnishing the most 
conclusive testimony that it was a message from Heaven. 

"All the great outlines of the world's prophetic history 
were shown to be complete in the present generation. The 
great prophetic chain of Daniel 2, also those of chapters 7, 8, 
11, and 12, were shown to be just accomplished. The same 
was true of our Lord's prophetic description of the gospel dis- 
pensation. Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21. The prophetic 
periods of Daniel 7, 8, 9, 12; Revelation 11, 12, 13, were 
shown to harmonize with, and unitedly to sustain, this great 
proclamation. The signs in the heavens and upon the earth 
and sea, in the church and among the nations, with one voice 
bore witness to the warning which God addressed to the human 
family. Joel 2 : 30, 31 ; Matt. 24 : 29 - 31 ; Mark 13 : 24 - 26 ; 
Luke 21:25 - 36; 2 Timothy 3; 2 Peter 3; Rev. 6:12, 13. 
And besides the mighty array of evidence on which this 
warning is based, the great outpouring of the Holy Spirit 
in connection with this proclamation set the seal of Heaven 
to its truth. 

" The warning of John the Baptist, which was to prepare 
the way for the first advent of our Lord, was of short duration, 
and limited in its extent. For each prophetic testimony which 
sustained the work of John, we have several which support the 
proclamation of Christ's near advent. John had not the aid 
of the press to disseminate his proclamation, nor the facility of 
^ahum's chariots; he was a humble man, dressed in camel's 
hair, and he performed no miracles. If the Pharisees and 
lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves in not 
being baptized of John, how great must be the guilt of those 



722 



THE REVELATION 



who reject the warning sent bj God to prepare the way of the 
second advent ! 

" But those were disappointed who expected the Lord in 
1843 and 1844. This fact is with many a sufficient reason for 
rejecting all the testimony in this case. We acknowledge the 
disappointment, but cannot acknowledge that this furnishes a 
just reason for denying the hand of God in this work. The 
Jewish church was disappointed when, at the close of the work 
of John the Baptist, Jesus presented himself as the promised 
Messiah. And the trusting disciples were most sadly disap- 
pointed when he whom they expected to deliver Israel was 
by wicked hands taken and slain. And after his resurrection, 
when they expected him to restore again the kingdom to Israel, 
they could not but be disappointed when they understood that 
he was going away to his Father, and that they were to be left 
for a long season to tribulation and anguish. But disappoint- 
ment does not prove that God has no hand in the guidance of 
his people. It should lead them to correct their errors, but it 
should not lead them to cast away their confidence in God. It 
was because the children of Israel were disappointed in the 
wilderness that they so often denied divine guidance. They 
are set forth as an admonition to us, that we should not fall 
after the same example of unbelief. 

" But it must be apparent to every student of the Scriptures 
that the angel who proclaims the hour of God's judgment does 
not give the latest message of mercy. Revelation 14 presents 
two other and later proclamations before the close of human 
probation. This fact alone is sufficient to prove that the 
coming of the Lord does not take place until the second and 
third proclamations have been added to the first. The same 
thing may also be seen in the fact that after the angel of 
chajDter 10 has sworn that time shall be no longer, another 
work of prophesying before many people and nations is an- 
nounced. Hence we understand that the first angel preaches 
the hour of God's judgment come; that is, he preaches the 
termination of the prophetic periods; and that this is the time 
which he swears shall be no longer. 

" The judgment does of necessity commence before the ad- 



CHAPTER U, VERSES 6 - 12 



723 



vent of Christ; for he comes to execute the judgment (Jude 
14, 15; Eev. 22: 12; 2 Tim. 4:1); and at the sound of the 
last trumpet he confers immortality upon every one of the 
righteous, and passes by all the wicked. The investigative 
judgment does therefore precede the execution of the same by 
the Saviour. It is the province of the Father to preside in 
this investigative work, as set forth in Daniel 7. At this 
tribunal, the Son closes up his work as high priest, and is 
crowned king. Thence he comes to earth to execute the de- 
cisions of his Father. It is this work of judgment by the 
Father which the first angel introduces. 

" The great period of 2300 days, which was the most im- 
portant period in marking the definite time in that proclama- 
mation, extends to the cleansing of the sanctuary. That the 
cleansing of the sanctuary is not the cleansing of any part of 
the earth, but that it is the last work of our great High Priest 
in the heavenly tabernacle before his advent to the earth, has 
been clearly shown. [See on Dan. 8: 14.] And we under- 
stand that it is while the work of cleansing the sanctuary is 
taking place, that the latest message of mercy is proclaimed. 
Thus it will be seen that the prophetic periods, and the proc- 
lamation which is based upon them, do not extend to the 
coming of the Lord." 

That the mistake made by Adventists in 1844 was not in 
the time, has been shown by the argument on the seventy 
weeks and twenty-three hundred days in Daniel 9 ; that it 
ivas in the nature of the event to occur at the end of those days, 
has been shown in the argument on the sanctuary in Daniel 8. 
Supposing that the earth was the sanctuary, and that its cleans- 
ing was to be accomplished by fire at the revelation of the Lord 
from heaven, they naturally looked for the appearing of Christ 
at the end of the days. And through their misapprehension 
on this point, they met with a crushing disappointment, though 
everything which the prophecy declared, and everything which 
they were warranted to expect, took place with absolute accu-. 
racy at that time. There the cleansing of the sanctuary began ; 
but this did not bring Christ to this earth, for the earth is not 
the sanctuary; and its cleansing does not involve the destruc- 



724 



* THE REVELATION 



tion of the earth, for it is accomplished with the blood of a 
sacrificial offering, not with fire. Here was the bitterness of 
the little book to the church. Rev. 10 : 10. Here was the 
coming of one like the Son of man, not to this earth, but to 
the Ancient of days. Dan. 7 : 13, 14. Here was the coming 
of the Bridegroom to the marriage, as set forth in the parable 
of the ten virgins in Matthew 25. We have spoken of the 
midnight cry of that parable in the summer of 1844. The 
foolish virgins then said to the wise, " Give us of your oil ; 
for our lamps are gone [margin, going] out." The wise an- 
swered, " Go and buy for yourselves." And while they went 
to buy, the Bridegroom came. This is not the coming of 
Christ to this earth ; for it is a coining which precedes the 
marriage; but the marriage, that is, the reception of the king- 
dom (see on chapter 21), must precede his coming to this earth 
to receive to himself his people, who are to be the guests at 
the marriage supper. Luke 19:12; Rev. 19:7-9. This 
coming, in the parable, must therefore be the same as the com- 
ing to the Ancient of days spoken of in Dan. 7 : 13, 14. 

And they that were ready went in with him to the mar- 
riage, and the door was shut. After the Bridegroom comes to 
the marriage, there is an examination of guests to see who 
are ready to participate in the ceremony, according to the 
parable of Matt. 22:1-13. As the last thing before the mar- 
riage, the King comes in to see the guests, to ascertain if all 
are properly arrayed in the wedding garment; and whoever, 
after due examination, is found with the garment on, and is 
accepted by the King, never after loses that garment, but is 
sure of immortality. But this question of fitness for the king- 
dom can be determined only by the investigative judgment of 
the sanctuary. This closing work in the sanctuary, therefore, 
which is the cleansing of the sanctuary, and the atonement, is 
nothing else than the examination of the guests to see who 
have on the wedding garment; and consequently until this 
work is finished, it is not determined who are " ready " to go 
in to the marriage. " They that were ready went in with him 
to the marriage." By this short expression we are carried 
from the time when the Bridegroom comes to the marriage, 



THE THREE MESSAGES OF REVELATION 



CHAPTER lk, VERSES 6 - 12 



entirely through the period of the cleansing of the sanctuary, 
or the examination of the guests ; and when this is concluded, 
probation will end, and the door will be shirt. 

The connection of the parable with the message under 
examination is now apparent. It brings to view a period of 
making ready the guests for the marriage of the Lamb, which 
is the work of judgment to which the message brings us when 
it declares, " The hour of his judgment is come." This mes- 
sage was to be proclaimed with a loud voice. It went forth 
with the power thus indicated between the years 1840 - 44, more 
especially in the seventh-month movement of the latter year, 
bringing us to the end of the 2300 days, when the work of 
judgment commenced as Christ began the work of cleansing 
the sanctuary. 

But, as has been already shown, this did not bring the close 
of probation, but only the period of the investigative judg- 
ment. In this judgment we are now living; and during this 
time other messages are proclaimed, as the prophecy further 
declares. 

The Second Message. — This message, following the first, is 
announced (verse 8) in these few words: a And there followed 
another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great 
city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the 
wrath of her fornication." The chronology of this message 
is determined, to a great extent, by that of the first message. 
This cannot precede that ; but that, as has been shown, is con- 
fined to the last days ; yet this must be given before the end, 
for no move of this kind is possible after that event. It is 
therefore a part of that religious movement which takes place 
in the last days with especial reference to the coming of Christ. 

The inquiries therefore naturally follow : What is meant by 
the term 'Babylon? what is its fall? and how is it fulfilled? 
As to the etymology of the word, we learn something from the 
marginal readings of Gen. 10 : 10 and 11:9. The beginning 
of Mmrod's kingdom was Babel, or Babylon; and the place 
was so called because God there confounded the language of 
the builders of the tower ; and the word means confusion. The 
word is here used figuratively to designate the great symbolic 
46 



728 



THE REVELATION 



city of the book of Revelation, probably with special reference 
to the signification of the term, and the circnmstances from 
which it originated. It applies to something on which, as 
specifying its chief characteristic, may be written the word 
" confusion." 

There are but three possible objects to which the word can 
be applied; and these are (1) the apostate religious world in 
general, (2) the papal church in particular, and (3) the city 
of Rome. In examining these terms, we shall first show what 
Babylon is not. 

1. Babylon is not confined to the Romish Church. That 
this church is a very prominent component part of great Baby- 
lon, is not denied. The descriptions of chapter 17 seem to 
apply very particularly to that church. But the name which 
she bears on her forehead, " Mystery, Babylon the Great, the 
Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth," reveals 
other family connections. If this church is the mother, who 
are the daughters % The fact that these daughters are spoken 
of, shows that there are other religious bodies besides the Ro- 
mish Church which come under this designation. Again, there 
is to be a call made in connection with this message, " Come 
out of her, my people " (Rev. 18 : 1-4) ; and as this message 
is located in the present generation, it follows, if no other 
church but the Romish is included in Babylon, that the people 
of God, as a body, are now found in the communion of that 
church, and are to be called out. But this conclusion, no 
Protestant at least will be willing to adopt. 

2. Babylon is not the city of Rome. The argument relied 
upon to show that the city of Rome is the Babylon of the 
Apocalypse runs thus : " The angel told John that the woman 
which he had seen was the great city which reigned over the 
kings of the earth, and that the seven heads of the beast are 
seven mountains upon which the woman sitteth." And then, 
taking the city and the mountains to be literal, and finding 
Rome built upon just seven hills, the application is made at 
once to literal Rome. 

The principle upon which this interpretation rests is the 
assumption that the explanation of a symbol must always be 



CHAPTER lk, VERSES 6 - 12 



729 



literal. It falls to the ground the moment it can be shown 
that symbols are sometimes explained by substituting for them 
other symbols, and then explaining the latter. This can easily 
be done. In Eev. 11 : 3, the symbol of the two witnesses is 
introduced. The next verse reads: " These are the two olive 
trees and the two candlesticks standing before, the God of the 
earth/"' In this case the first symbol is said to be the same as 
another symbol which is elsewhere clearly explained. So in 
the case before us. " The seven heads are seven mountains/' 
and " The woman is that great city ; " and it will not be dim- 
cult to show that the mountains and the city are both used 
symbolically. The reader's attention is asked to the follow- 
ing points : — 

(1) We are informed in chapter 13 that one of the seven 
heads was wounded to death. This head therefore cannot be a 
literal mountain ; for it would be folly to speak of wounding a 
mountain to death. 

(2) Each of the seven heads has a crown upon it. But 
who ever saw a literal mountain with a crown upon it ? 

(3) The seven heads are evidently successive in order of 
time ; for we read, " Five are fallen, and one is, and the other 
is not yet come." Revelation 17. But the seven hills on 
which Rome is built are not successive, and it would be ab- 
surd to apply such language to them. 

(1) According to Dan. 7: 6, compared with Dan. 8: 8, 22, 
heads denote governments; and according to Dan. 2:35, 44; 
Jer. 51: 25, mountains denote kingdoms. According to these 
facts, the version of Rev. 17 : 9, 10 given by Professor Whiting, 
which is a literal translation of the text, removes all obscurity: 
" The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman 
sitteth, and they are seven kings." It will thus be seen that 
the angel represents the heads as mountains, and then explains 
the mountains to be seven successive kings, or forms of govern- 
ment. The meaning is transferred from one symbol to another, 
and then an explanation is given of the second symbol. 

From the foregoing argument, it follows that the " woman " 
cannot represent a literal city; for the mountains upon which 
the woman sitteth being symbolic, a literal city cannot sit 



730 



THE REVELATION 



upon symbolic mountains. Again, Rome was the seat of the 
dragon of chapter 12, and this was transferred to the beast 
(Rev. 13 : 2), thus becoming the seat of the beast; but it would 
be a singular mixture of figures to take the seat, which is sat 
upon by the beast, and make that a woman sitting upon the 
beast. 

(5) Were the. city of Rome the Babylon of the Apocalypse, 
what nonsense should we have in chapter 18:1-4; for in 
this case the fall of Babylon would be the overthrow and de- 
struction of the city, in fact, its utter consumption by fire, 
according to verse 8. But mark what takes place after the 
fall. Babylon becomes a habitation of devils, the hold of 
every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful 
bird. How can this happen to a city after that city is de- 
stroyed, even being utterly burned with fire ? But worse still, 
after all this a voice is heard, saying, " Come out of her, my 
people." Are God's people in Rome ? — JSTot to any great 
extent, even in her best estate. But how many can we sup- 
pose to be there, to be called out, after the city is burned with 
fire ? It is not necessary to say more to show that Babylon 
cannot be the city of Rome. 

3. Babylon signifies the universal worldly church. Having 
seen that it cannot be any one of the only other three possible 
objects to which it could be applied, it must mean this. But 
we are not left to this a priori kind of reasoning on this 
subject. Babylon is called a woman. A woman, used as 
a symbol, signifies a church. The woman of chapter 12 was 
interpreted to mean a church. The woman of chapter 17 
should undoubtedly be interpreted as signifying also a church. 
The character of the woman determines the character of the 
church represented, a chaste woman standing for a pure church, 
a vile woman for an impure or apostate church. The woman 
Babylon is herself a harlot, and the mother of daughters like 
herself. This circumstance, as well as the name itself, shows 
that Babylon is not limited to any single ecclesiastical body, 
but must be composed of many. It must take in all of a like 
nature, and represent the entire corrupt or apostate church of 
the earth. This will perhaps explain the language of Rev. 



CHAPTER lk, VERSES 6 - 12 



^ 731 



18 : 24, which represents that when God makes requisition 
upon great Babylon for the blood of his martyrs, in her will 
be found " the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all' 7 
that have been slain upon the earth. The Greek Church is the 
established church of Russia and Greece ; the Lutheran Church 
is the established church of Prussia, Holland, Sweden, Norway, 
and a part of the smaller German states; England has Epis- 
copacy for her state religion, and other countries have their 
established religions, and zealously oppose dissenters. Babylon 
has made all nations drunken with the wine of her fornication, 
that is, her false doctrines; it can therefore symbolize nothing 
less than the universal worldly church. 

The great city, Babylon, is spoken of as composed of three 
divisions. So the great religions of the world may be arranged 
under three heads. The first, oldest, and most wide-spread is 
paganism, separately symbolized under the form of a dragon; 
the second is the great Romish apostasy, symbolized by the 
beast ; and the third is the daughters, or descendants from that 
church. Under this head comes the two-horned beast, though 
that does not embrace it all. War, oppression, conformity to 
the world, the worship of mammon, the creed-power, pursuit 
of pleasure, and the maintenance of very many errors of the 
old Romish Church, identify, with sad and faithful accuracy, 
the great body of the Protestant churches as an important 
constituent part of this great Babylon. 

A glance at some of the ways in which the Protestant 
church has deported herself will still further show this. Rome, 
having the power, destroyed vast multitudes of those whom 
she adjudged heretics. The Protestant church has shown the 
same spirit. Witness the burning of Michael Servetus by the 
Protestants of Geneva with John Calvin at their head. Wit- 
ness the long-continued oppression of dissenters by the Church 
of England. Witness the hanging of Quakers and whipping 
of Baptists even by the Puritan fathers of New England, 
themselves fugitives from like oppression by the Church of 
England. But these, some may say, are things of the past. 
Very true ; yet they show that when persons governed by 
strong religious prejudice have the power to coerce dissenters, 



732 



THE REVELATION 



they cannot forbear to use it — a state of things which we look 
for in this country under a further fulfilment of the closing 
prophecy of chapter 13. 

Mark also how far they have departed from the teachings 
of Christ in other respects. Christ forbade his people to seek 
after the treasures of this world. But the popular church, as 
a body, exhibits greater eagerness for wealth, than do worldlings 
themselves. In how many churches does mammon bear rule! 
Christ says, " Be not ye called Rabbi," that is, master, or doc- 
tor; " f or one is your Master, even Christ." To do this is to 
partake of the same spirit which has led aspiring men to as- 
sume to be the head of the church, the successor of St. Peter, 
the vicegerent of Christ, and a god upon earth. Yet how many 
in the Protestant church, in imitation of the Romish, adopt 
the title of " Reverend," which in our version of the Scrip- 
tures is applied to God alone : " Holy and reverend is his name." 
But not content with this, some become " Very Reverend," and 
" Right Reverend," and "Doctors of Divinity." The New 
Testament speaks in the most decided terms against adorn- 
ments and extravagance in dress; yet where shall we look 
for a display of the latest fashions, the most costly attire, the 
most gaudy adornments, the richest diamonds, and the most 
dazzling jewelry, except in a fashionable assembly in a Prot- 
estant church on a pleasant Sunday ? Such is now the state of 
the religious world, that many, in pursuit of their vocation as 
lawyers, doctors, politicians, merchant kings, etc., seek through 
the avenue of church connection success in business, honor in 
society, high offices in the nation, and lucrative positions every- 
where. And much more of this will be seen, when, as already 
explained, church and state shall be united in America, and a 
religious profession shall become a qualification for political 
office. To adopt the form of godliness from such motives 
must be most abominable in the sight of God; yet these very 
classes are welcomed by the churches, because it will make 
them still more popular. 

Babylon is represented as trafficking in the souls of men. 
A custom common in the Church of England would seem to 
come under this head. There, vacant livings are sometimes set 



CHAPTER U, VERSES 6 - 12 



733 



up for sale, and the highest bidder, 'regardless of his moral 
qualifications or religious standing, becomes the possessor of the 
revenue belonging to the position, and the pastor of the people 
of that parish. To come to the United States, look at all the 
arts and devices resorted to to draw the multitude, not to con- 
vert and save them, but to gain their patronage and influence. 
The most disastrous result of all this is that the minister must 
preach smooth things, and tickle fashionable ears with pleasing 
fables. 

It was the will of Christ that his church should be one. 
He prayed that his disciples might be one, as he and the Father 
were one; for this would give power to his gospel, and cause 
the world to believe in him. Instead of this, look at the con- 
fusion that exists in the Protestant world, the many sectional 
walls that divide it up into a network of societies, and the 
many creeds, discordant as the languages of those who were 
dispersed at the tower of Babel. God is not the author of all 
these. It is just this state of things which the word Babylon, 
as a descriptive term, appropriately designates. It is evidently 
used for this very purpose, and not at all as a term of reproach. 
Instead of being stirred with feelings of resentment when this 
term is mentioned, people should rather examine their position, 
to see if in faith or practice they are guilty of any connection 
with this great city of confusion, and if so, separate at once 
therefrom. 

The true church is a chaste virgin. 2 Cor. 11:2. The 
church that is joined with the world in friendship, is a harlot. 
It is this unlawful connection with the kings of the earth that 
constitutes her the great harlot of the Apocalypse. Revelation 
17. Thus the Jewish Church, at first espoused to the Lord 
(Jeremiah, chapters 2, 3, and 31: 32), became a harlot. Eze- 
kiel 16. This church, when thus apostatized from God, was 
called Sodom (Isaiah 1), just as "the great city" (Babylon) 
is so called in Revelation 11. The unlawful union with the 
world of which Babylon is guilty, is positive proof that it is 
not the civil power. That the people of God are in her midst 
just before her overthrow is proof that she is professedly a 
religious body. For these reasons, is it not very evident that 



734 



THE REVELATION 



the Babylon of the Apocalypse is the professed church united 
with the world? 

The fall of Babylon will next claim attention. Having 
now learned what constitutes Babylon, it will not be difficult 
to decide what is meant by the declaration that Babylon is' 
fallen. As Babylon is not a literal city, the fall cannot be a 
literal overthrow. We have already seen what an absurdity 
this would involve. And besides, between the fall and the 
destruction of Babylon, the clearest distinction is maintained 
by the prophecy itself. Babylon " falls " before it is with 
violence " thrown down," as a millstone cast into the sea, and 
" utterly burned with fire." The fall is therefore a moral 
fall; for after the fall, the voice is addressed to the people of 
God who are still in her connection, " Come out of her, my 
people ; " and the reason is immediately given, — " that ye 
be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her 
plagues." Babylon therefore still exists to sin, and her plagues 
are still future, after the fall. 

Those who make Babylon apply exclusively to the papacy, 
claim that the fall of Babylon is the loss of civil power by the 
papal church. But such a view would be inconsistent with 
the prophecy in several particulars : — ■ 

1. Babylon falls because she makes all nations drink of her 
wine, or instils among them her false doctrines. But this by 
no means caused the loss of the pope's temporal power; on the 
contrary, it was the very means by which he so long maintained 
his supremacy. 

2. Because of the fall of Babylon, she becomes the hold of 
foul spirits and hateful birds ; but such is not at all the result 
to Rome of the loss of civil power. 

3. The people of God are called out of Babylon on account 
of her increasing sinfulness resulting from the fall ; but the loss 
of the temporal power of the papacy constitutes no additional 
reason why the people of God should leave that church. 

The reasons given why Babylon meets with this moral fall 
is " because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath 
[not anger, but intense passion] of her fornication." There is 
but one thing to which this can refer, and that is false doc- 



CHAPTER Ik, VERSES 6 - 12 



735 



trines. She has corrupted the pure truths of God's word, and 
made the nations drunken with pleasing fables. Among the 
doctrines she teaches contrary to the word of God, may be 
mentioned the following: — 

1. The doctrine of a temporal millennium, or a thousand 
years of peace and prosperity and righteousness all OA^er the 
earth before the second coming of Christ. This doctrine is 
especially calculated to shut the ears of the people against the 
evidences of the second advent near, and will probably lull as 
many souls into a state of carnal security which will lead to 
their final ruin as any heresy which has ever been devised by 
the great enemy of truth. 

2. Sprinkling instead of immersion, which is the only Scrip- 
tural mode of baptism, and a fitting memorial of the burial and 
resurrection of our Lord, for which purpose it was designed. 
Having corrupted this ordinance, and destroyed it as a memo- 
rial of the resurrection of Christ, the way was prepared for 
the substitution of something else for this purpose, which she 
attempted in — ■ 

3. The change of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, 
the seventh day, into the festival of Sunday as the rest-day of 
the Lord and a memorial of his resurrection, a memorial which 
has never been commanded, and can by no possible means ap- 
propriately commemorate that event. Fathered by heathenism 
as " the wild solar holiday of all pagan times," Sunday was 
led to the font by the pope, and christened as an institution 
of the gospel church. Thus an attempt was made to destroy 
a memorial which the great God had set up to commemorate 
his own magnificent creative work, and erect another in its 
stead to commemorate the resurrection of Christ, for which 
there was no occasion, as the Lord himself had already pro- 
vided a memorial for that purpose. 

4. The doctrine of the natural immortality of the soul. 
This also was derived from the pagan world. As distinguished 
converts from heathenism entered the ranks of Christians, they 
soon became " Fathers of the church," and foster-fathers of 
this pernicious doctrine as a part of divine truth. This error 
nullifies the two great Scripture doctrines of the resurrection 



736 



THE REVELATION 



and the general judgment, and furnishes a well-laid track for 
the car of modern Spiritualism with its load of pollution. 
From it have sprung such other evil doctrines as the conscious 
state of the dead, saint-worship, Mariolatry, purgatory, reward 
at death, prayers and baptisms for the dead, eternal torment, 
and Universalism. 

5. The doctrine that the saints, as unclothed, immaterialized 
spirits, find their eternal inheritance in far-away, indefinable 
regions, " beyond the bounds of time and space." Thus mul- 
titudes have been turned away from the Scriptural view that 
this present earth is to be destroyed by fire at the day of judg- 
ment and perdition of ungodly men, and that from its ashes the 
voice of Omnipotence will evoke a new earth, which will be the 
future everlasting kingdom of glory, and which the saints will 
possess as their eternal inheritance. 

6. That the coming of Christ is a spiritual, not a literal 
event, and was fulfilled at the destruction of Jerusalem, or is 
fulfilled in conversion, in death, in Spiritualism, etc. How 
many minds have by such teaching been forever closed against 
the Scriptural view that the second coming of Christ is a future, 
definite event, literal, personal, visible, resulting in destruction 
to all his foes, and everlasting life to all his people ! 

7. Trailing the standard of godliness into the very dust. 
Men are made to believe that a form of godliness is all-suffi- 
cient, and that the words, " Lord, Lord," though repeated as 
an empty formula, will be a safe passport to the kingdom of 
heaven. If any one doubts this statement, let him listen to 
the next funeral discourse, or visit the cemetery, and mark 
what the tombstones say. 

The world has gone almost stark mad in the pursuit of 
riches and honor; but in these things the church takes the 
lead, and thus openly sanctions what the Lord strictly forbade. 
If the churches were united as they should be, what a stum- 
bling-block would be taken out of the way of sinners ! And if 
it were not for the false doctrines which she has instilled into 
the minds of all men, how the plain truths of the Bible Would 
move the world ! But people are held by these, as under the 
stupefying influence of the most powerful intoxicant. 



CHAPTER U, VERSES 6 - 12 



737 



To come now more particularly to the application of the 
prophecy concerning the fall of Babylon, let ns see Iioav the 
religions world stood with reference to the possibility of such a 
change, when the time came for the proclamation of this mes- 
sage, in connection with the first message, about the year 1844. 
Paganism was only apostasy and corruption in the beginning, 
and is so still ; and no moral fall is possible there. Catholicism 
has been for centuries about as low in the scale as it is possible 
for a church to sink. Xo room for a moral fall in that church. 
Two great branches of Babylon were, therefore, when the sec- 
ond message became due, in so low a condition morally that a 
further declension with them was scarcely possible. Xot so, 
however, with the Protestant branch of this great city. These 
churches, which commenced the great work of reformation 
from papal corruption, had done some noble work. They had 
run well for a season. They reached a moral plane vastly 
higher than that of the other divisions named. They were, in 
a word, in such a position that with them a moral fall was 
possible. The conclusion is therefore inevitable that the mes- 
sage announcing the fall had reference almost wholly to the 
Protestant churches. 

The question may then be asked why this announcement 
was not made sooner, if so large a portion of Babylon, the 
pagan and papal divisions, had been so long fallen. And the 
answer is at hand: Babylon, as a whole, could not be said to 
be fallen so long as one division of it remained unfallen. It 
could not be announced, therefore, till a change for the worse 
came over the Protestant world, and the truth, through which 
alone the path of progress lay, had been deliberately discarded. 
But when this took place, and a moral fall was experienced in 
this last division, then the announcement concerning Babylon 
as a whole could be made, as it could not have been made 
before, — " Babylon is fallen." 

It may be proper to inquire further how the reason assigned 
for the fall of Babylon, namely, because she made all nations 
drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, would apply 
to the Protestant churches at the time in question. And the 
answer is, It would apply most pertinently. The fault with 



738 



THE REVELATION 



Babylon lies in her confusion and false doctrines. Because 
she industriously propagates these, clinging to them when 
light and truth which would correct them is offered, she falls. 
With the Protestant churches, the time had come for an advance 
to higher religious ground. They could accept the proffered 
light and truth, and reach the higher attainment, or they could 
reject it, and lose their spirituality and favor with God, or, 
in other words, experience a moral fall. The truth which God 
saw fit to use as an instrument in this Avork was the first mes- 
sage. The hour of God's judgment come, and the approximate 
second advent of Christ was the doctrine preached. After 
listening long enough to see the blessing that attended the doc- 
trine, and the good results that flowed from it, the churches, as 
a whole, rejected it with scorn and scoffing. They were thereby 
tested ; for they then plainly betrayed the fact that their hearts 
were with the world, not with the Lord, and that they preferred 
to have it so. But the message would have healed the evils then 
existing in the religious world. The prophet exclaims, perhaps 
with reference to this very time, " We would have healed Baby- 
lon, but she is not healed.' 7 Jer. 51: 9. Do you ask how Ave 
know this would have been the effect of receiving the message '? 
We ansAver, Because this Avas the effect Avith all who did re- 
ceive it. They came from different denominations, and their 
denominational barriers Avere leA 7 eled to the ground ; conflicting 
creeds Avere shivered to atoms ; the unscriptural hope of a tem- 
poral millennium was abandoned; false views of the second 
advent Avere corrected ; pride and conformity to the world Avere 
swept aAvay ; Avrongs were made right ; hearts Avere united in 
the SAveetest felloAvship ; and love and joy reigned supreme. If 
the doctrine did this for the feAV who did receive it, it would 
have done the same for all, if all had received it. 

But the message Avas rejected; and what was the result? 
The result upon those who rejected it will be spoken of by and 
by ; and the result upon those who received it, demands mention 
here. EA^eryAvhere throughout the land the cry was raised, 
" Babylon is fallen," and, in anticipation of the movement 
brought to vieAV in BeA r . 18 : 1-4, they added, " Come out of 
her, my people ; " and about fifty thousand severed their con- 



CHAPTER Ik, VERSES 6 - 12 



739 



nection with the denominations where they were not allowed to 
hold and proclaim their views in peace. 

A marked change then came over the churches in respect to 
their spiritual condition. On the hypothesis that the proc- 
lamation of the second coining of Christ was in the order of 
prophetic fulfilment, and that the message was the " present 
truth " for that time, the result could not have been different. 
When a person refuses the light, he necessarily puts himself 
in darkness ; when he rejects truth, he inevitably forges the 
shackles of error about his own limbs. Loss of spirituality — 
a moral fall — must follow. This the churches experienced. 
They chose to adhere to old errors, and still promulgate their 
false doctrines among the people. The light of truth must 
therefore leave them. Some of them felt and deplored the 
change. A few testimonies from their own writers will de- 
scribe their condition at that time. 

The Christian Palladium of May 15, 1844, spoke in the 
folloAving mournful strain : "In every direction we hear the 
dolorous sound, wafted upon every breeze of heaven, chilling 
as the blast from the icebergs of the north, settling like an in- 
cubus on the breasts of the timid, and drinking up the energies 
of the weak, that lukewarmness, division, anarchy, and desola- 
tion are distressing the borders of Zion." 

In 1844 the Religions Telescope used the following lan- 
guage : " We have never witnessed such a general declension of 
religion as at the present. Truly, the church should awake, 
and search into the cause of this affliction ; for as an affliction 
every one that loves Zion must view it. When we call to mind 
how ' few and far between ' cases of true conversion are, and 
the almost unparalleled impenitence and hardness of sinners, 
we almost involuntarily exclaim, ' Has God forgotten to be gra- 
cious ? or is the door of mercy closed ? ' " 

About that time, proclamations of fasts and seasons of 
prayer for the return of the Holy Spirit were sent out in the 
religious papers. Even the Philadelphia Sun of Nov. '11, 1844, 
had the following : " The undersigned ministers and members 
of various denominations in Philadelphia and vicinity, solemnly 
believing that the present signs of the times — the spiritual 



740 



THE REVELATION 



dearth of our churches generally and the extreme evils in the 
world around us — ■ seem to call loudly on all Christians for 
a special season of prayer, do therefore hereby agree, by divine 
permission, to unite in a week of special prayer to Almighty 
God, for the outpouring of his Holy Spirit on our city, our 
country, and the world." 

Professor Finney, editor of the Oberlin Evangelist, in Feb- 
ruary, 1844, said: " We have had the facts before our minds, 
that, in general, the Protestant churches of our country, as 
such, were either apathetic or hostile to nearly all the moral 
reforms of the age. There are partial exceptions, yet not 
enough to render the fact otherwise than general. We have 
also another corroborative fact, — the almost universal absence 
of revival influence in the churches. The spiritual apathy is 
almost all-pervading, and is fearfully deep; so the religious 
press of the whole land testifies. Very extensively, church- 
members are becoming devotees of fashion, joining hands with 
the ungodly in parties of pleasure, in dancing, in festivities, 
etc. But we need not expand this painful subject. Suffice it 
that the evidence thickens and rolls heavily upon us, to show 
that the churches generally are becoming sadly degenerate. 
They have gone very far from the Lord, and he has with- 
drawn himself from them.' 7 

Should it be said that our view T s of the moral fall and spirit- 
ual dearth of the churches are shown to be incorrect by the 
great revivals of 1858, the testimony of the leading Congrega- 
tional and Baptist papers of Boston relative to these revivals 
would correct that impression. 

The Congregationalist, November, 1858, said: " The revi- 
val piety of our churches is not such that one can confidently 
infer, from its mere existence, its legitimate, practical fruits. 
It ought, for example, to be as certain, after such a shower of 
grace, that the treasuries of our benevolent societies would be 
filled, as it is after a plentiful rain that the streams will swell 
in their channels. But the managers of our societies are be- 
wailing the feebleness of the sympathy and aid of the churches. 

" There is another and sadder illustration of the same gen- 
eral truth. The Watchman and Reflector recently stated that 



CHAPTER U, VERSES 6 - 12 



741 



there had never been among the Baptists so lamentable a spread 
of chnrch dissension as prevails at present; and the sad fact is 
mentioned that this sin infects the very churches which shared 
most largely in the late revival. And the still more melan- 
choly fact is added that these alienations date back their origin, 
in most cases, to the very midst of that scene of awakening. 
Even a glance at the weekly journals of our own denomination 
will evince that the evil is by no means confined to the Baptists. 
Our own columns have, perhaps, never borne so humiliating a 
record of contentions and ecclesiastical litigations as during the 
last few months." 

A Presbyterian pastor of Belfast, Ireland (1858), used the 
following language respecting the then recent revivals in this 
country, according to the New York Independent of December, 
1859 : " The determination to crush all ministers who say a 
word against their national sin [slavery], the determination to 
suffocate and suppress the plain teachings of Scripture, can be 
persisted in and carried out at the very time these New York 
Christians are expecting the religious world to hail their revi- 
vals. Until the wretchedly degraded churches of America do 
the work of God in their own land, they have no spiritual 
vitality to communicate to others; their revivals are in the 
religious world what their flaunted cries of liberty, intermin- 
gled with the groans of the slave, are in the political.'' 

During the time of the great Irish revival of 1859, the 
General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ireland held 
its session in Belfast. Of a strange scene that occurred in that 
Assembly the Belfast Netus Letter of September 30, said: 
" Here in this venerable body of ministers and elders, we find 
two ministers openly giving each other the lie, and the whole 
General Assembly turned into a scene of confusion bordering 
upon a riot." 

This is a sad and deplorable picture ; and what has been 
the course of events, and the tendency in the deportment of 
professed Christians, since that time ? There is considerable 
spasmodic action in some localities, and much effort put forth 
by sensational revivalists to excite the emotions, but no perma- 



742 



THE REVELATION 



nent good seems to be accomplished, and the standard of godli- 
ness sinks lower and lower. 

Some new features have been added to the facilities for 
church work, and have now come to be considered almost in- 
dispensable appendages to the house of worship; and one of 
these is nothing less than a well-appointed kitchen, where the 
feast can be made ready, and dainty delicacies prepared for 
the most perverted appetite. One instance may serve as an il- 
lustration of all in this line. When the " Centenary Methodist 
Episcopal Church " was erected in Chicago, the Tribune, of 
that city, in its description of the building, made particular 
mention of the following features : — 

" Beneath the vestibule and parlors is a basement, consist- 
ing of a large dining-hall, furnished with table accommoda- 
tions for one hundred and fifty persons ; a kitchen, with cooking 
apparatus, sinks, closets, dressing-rooms, etc. The basement, 
under the vestibule and parlors, secures some desirable advan- 
tages; the social gatherings can be made agreeable and pleas- 
ant without introducing the refreshments into the lecture room 
or parlors." 

Think of a kitchen as being considered a necessary apart- 
ment in a house of worship ! What would the venerable and 
godly church fathers and mothers of a generation ago have 
thought of this ? The Scriptures declare that eating and 
drinking and pleasure-seeking, instead of God-serving, even on 
the part of professed Christians, will characterize the last 
days as signs of the times. Luke 17:26 - 30; 2 Tim. 3:4, 5. 
Have we not reached the time when this is fulfilled ? What 
indulgence is there in the whole catalogue of worldly pleasures 
which is not openly tolerated in the church — nay, which is 
not largely fostered by the church ? Dancing, card-playing, 
theater-going, horse-racing, gambling, lotteries, festivals, fairs, 
and all forms of gluttony, are freely patronized in religious 
circles, and many of these things for so-called religious 
purposes. 

Not many years ago, an entertainment was devised for the 
benefit of a church in 'New Orleans, of such a nature that it 
required a handbill to describe it, reading as follows: — 



CHAPTER lk, VERSES 6 - 12 



743 



u Benefit of Christ's Church Parochial School. Near the 
dancing platform are a splendid booth and a large canvas tent, 
with seats reserved for the accommodation of ladies and chil- 
dren. The patrons of this church, as well as the public, will 
here find a soda-water stand and confectionery, a restaurant 
filled with everything to satisfy the appetites of epicureans ; 
and also a splendid bar, stocked with the choicest kinds of 
liquors, cigars, etc." 

The New York Observer copied this, with the following 
remarks : — 

" This is a copy of a handbill conspicuously posted in New 
Orleans at the present time. The church for which this splen- 
did bar is to be opened is called Christ's church; but our pri- 
vate opinion is, if Christ attends the fair, he will come with a 
scourge of large cords, and drive out every man and woman 
who dishonors his house and name with such things as these. 
Call it a church if you will ; but for Christ's sake, O New 
Orleans people, don't call it Christ's church. Anything but 
that!" 

To whatever denomination this church belonged, it shows 
just the same what is done in these days in the name of 
religion. 

As an illustration of the effect of church lotteries, the 
Watchman relates the following: — 

"A member of a church went to his pastor, and entreated 
his personal intercession with his favorite son, who had become 
ruinously addicted to the vice of gambling. The pastor con- 
sented, and seeking the young man, found him in his chamber. 
He commenced his lecture ; but before he concluded, the young 
man laid his hand upon his arm, and drew his attention to a 
pile of splendid volumes that stood upon the table. ' Well,' 
said the young man, ' these volumes were won by me at a 
fair given in your church ; they were my first venture. But 
for that lottery, under the patronage of a Christian church, 
I should never have become a gambler.' " 

A minister, B. F. Booth, speaks as follows m the Golden 
Censer : — 
47 



744 



THE REVELATION 



" I hide my face in shame, when I hear of a governor of 
a state being compelled to call npon the law-making depart- 
ment of his state to pass laws to counteract the swindling 
carried on under the auspices of the church, under the name 
of church fairs, festivals, and other forms of ' pious ' church 
gambling. " 

Pages might be filled with statements from leading men 
and papers in the religious world, acknowledging the low 
condition of the churches generally, and the many evil prac- 
tices of which they are unblushingly guilty; but it is unnec- 
cessary to multiply testimony on this point. The sad and 
deplorable fact is too evident to be denied. 

The leading Methodist paper, the New York Christian 
Advocate, of Aug. 30, 1883, contains an article headed 
" The Greatest of Questions," from which we copy these 
statements : — 

" 1. Disguise it as you like, the church, in a general sense, 
is spiritually in a rapid decline. While it grows in numbers 
and money, it is becoming extremely feeble and limited in its 
spirituality, both in the pulpit and the pew. It is assuming 
the shape and character of the church at Laodicea. 

" 2. There are thousands of ministers, local and conference, 
and many thousands of the laity, who are as dead and worth- 
less as barren fig-trees. They contribute nothing of a temporal 
or spiritual nature to the progress and triumphs of the gospel 
throughout the earth. If all these dry bones in our church 
and its congregations could be resurrected, and brought into 
requisition by faithful, active service, what new and glorious 
manifestations of divine power would break forth ! " 

The New York Independent of Dec. 3, 1896, gave an 
article from D. L. Moody, from which the following is an 
extract : — 

" In a recent issue of your paper I saw an article from a 
contributor which stated that there were over three thousand 
churches in the Congregational and Presbyterian bodies of this 
country that did not report a single member added by profes- 
sion of faith last .year. Can this be true ? The thought has 
taken such hold of me that I can't get it out of my mind. It 



CHAPTER lk, VERSE 8 6 - 12 



745 



is enough almost to send a thrill of horror through the soul 
of every Christian. 

" If this is the case with these two large denominations, 
what must be the condition of the others also ? Are we all 
going to sit still and let this thing continue ? Shall our relig- 
ious newspapers and our pulpits keep their mouths closed like 
' dumb dogs that cannot bark y to warn people of approaching 
clanger ? Should we not all lift up our voice like a trumpet 
about this matter ? What must the Son of God think of such 
a result of our labor as this ? What must an unbelieving 
world think about a Christianity that can't bring forth any 
more fruit ? And have we no care for the multitudes of souls 
going down to perdition every year while we all sit and look 
on ? And this country of ours, where will it be in the next 
ten years, if we don't awake out of sleep ?" 

The second angel's message is addressed to those organiza- 
tions where the people of God are mainly to be found; for 
they are specially addressed as being in Babylon, and at a cer- 
tain time are called out. The message applies to the present 
generation ; and now God's people are to be looked for, cer- 
tainly, in the Protestant organizations of Christendom. But 
as these churches depart farther and farther from God, they 
at length reach such a condition that true Christians can no 
longer maintain a connection with them ; and then they will 
be called out. This we look for in the future, in fulfilment 
of Rev. 18:1-4. We believe it will come, when, in addition 
to their corruptions, the churches begin to raise against the 
saints the hand of oppression. (See further under the chap- 
ter last named.) 

The Third Message. — Commencing with verse 9, the third 
message reads as follows: "And the third angel followed them, 
saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and 
his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his 
hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, 
which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his in- 
dignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone 
in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the 
Lamb: and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever 



746 



THE REVELATION 



and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship 
the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of 
his name. Here is the patience of the saints : here are they 
that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." 

This is a message of most fearful import. No severer 
threatening of divine wrath can be found in all the Bible. 
The sin against which it warns must be a terrible sin, and it 
must be one so plainly denned that all who will may under- 
stand it, and thus know how to avoid the judgments denounced 
against it. 

It will be noticed that these messages are cumulative; that 
is, one does not cease when another is introduced. Thus, for 
a time the first message was the only one going forth. The 
second message was introduced, but that did not put an end 
to the first. From that time there were two messages. The 
third followed them, not to supersede them, but only to join 
with them, so that we now have three messages going forth 
simultaneously, or, rather, a threefold message, embracing the 
truths of all three, the last one, of course, being the leading 
proclamation. Till the work is done, it will never cease to 
be true that the hour of God's judgment has come, nor that 
Babylon has fallen ; and these facts still continue to be pro- 
claimed in connection with the truths introduced by the third 
message. 

There will also be noticed a logical connection between the 
messages themselves. Taking our stand just before the first 
message was introduced, we see the Protestant religious world 
sadly in need of reformation. Divisions and confusion reigned 
among the churches. They were still clinging to many papal 
errors and superstitions. The power of the gospel was im- 
paired in their hands. To correct these evils, the doctrine of 
the second coming of Christ was introduced, and proclaimed 
with power. They should have received it, and been quick- 
ened by it into new life, as they would have been had they re- 
ceived it. Instead of this, they rejected it, and suffered the 
consequences spiritually. Then followed the second message, 
announcing the result of that rejection, and declaring what 
was not only a fact In itself, but a judicial judgment of God 



CHAPTER u, VERSES 6 - 12 



747 



upon them for their recreancy in this respect; namely, that 
God had departed from them, and they had met with a moral 
fall. 

This did not have the effect to arouse them, and lead them 
to correct their errors, as it was sufficient to do, had they been 
willing to be admonished and corrected. And now what fol- 
lows ? — The way is open for a still further retrograde move- 
ment, — for deeper apostasy and still greater evils. The powers 
of darkness will press forward their work, and if the churches 
still persist in this course of shunning light and rejecting truth, 
they will soon find themselves worshiping the beast and receiv- 
ing his mark. This will be the logical sequence of that course 
of action which commenced with the rejection of the first mes- 
sage. And now another proclamation is sent forth, announcing 
in solemn tones that if any man shall do this, he shall drink of 
the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without 
mixture into the cup of his indignation. That is to say, you 
rejected the first message, and met with a moral fall; continue 
to reject truth and disregard the warnings sent out, and you 
will exhaust God's last means of grace, and by and by meet 
with a literal destruction for which there will be no remedy. 
This is as severe a threatening as God can make to be inflicted 
in this life, and it is the last. A few will heed it, and be 
saved; the multitude will pass on, and perish. 

The proclamation of the third message is the last special 
religious movement to be made before the Lord appears; for 
immediately following this, John beholds one like the Son of 
man coming upon a great white cloud to reap the harvest of 
the earth. This can represent nothing else than the second 
coming of Christ. If, therefore, the coming of Christ is at the 
door, the time has come for the proclamation of this message. 
There are many who claim the name "Adventist," and who 
with voice and pen are earnestly teaching that we are in the 
last days of time, and that the coming of Christ is at the door ; 
but when we remind them of this prophecy, they are suddenly 
at sea, without anchor, chart, or compass. They know not 
what to do with it. They can see as well as we that if what 
they are teaching respecting the coming of Christ is true, and 



748 



THE REVELATION 



the Lord is at hand, somewhere — yes^ all over the land — 
should be heard the warning notes of this third message. It 
is now due; and if it is not now going forth, it follows that 
we are not in the last days, or that this prophecy is a failure ; 
but this they cannot consistently admit. At the same time, 
they know that they are not giving it, and they do not claim 
to be giving it ; and they can point to none who are giving it, 
except it be a certain class who profess that that is the very 
work they are doing. But to admit the claims of this class 
would be to condemn themselves. Their perplexity would be 
deserving of commiseration, were it not that those who will 
accept an embarrassing dilemma rather than acknowledge the 
truth, are not justly entitled to much sympathy. 

The arguments on the two preceding messages fix the chro- 
nology of the third, and show that it belongs to the present 
time ; but, as in the case of the former, the best evidence in 
behalf of the proposition that the message is now going to the 
world, is to be able to point to events which demonstrate the 
fulfilment. Having identified the first message as a leading 
proclamation with the great Advent movement of 1840 - 44, 
and having seen the fulfilment of the second message in con- 
nection with that movement in the latter year, let us look at 
what has transpired since that time. 

When the time passed in 1844, the whole Adventist body 
was thrown into more or less confusion. Many gave up the 
movement entirely; more jumped to the conclusion that the 
argument on the time was wrong, and immediately went to 
work to readjust the prophetic periods, and set a new time for 
the Lord to come — a work in which they have continued more 
or less to the present time, fixing a new date as each one passed 
by, to the scandal of the Advent movement, and the discredit, 
so far as their limited influence extended, of all prophetical 
study; a few, searching closely and candidly for the cause of 
the mistake, w r ere confirmed in their views of the providential 
character of the Advent movement, and the correctness of the 
argument on the time, but saw that a mistake had been made 
on the subject of the sanctuary, by which the disappointment 
could be explained. They learned that the sanctuary was not 



CHAPTER U, VERSES 6 - 12 



749 



this earth, as had been supposed; that the cleansing was not to 
be by fire; and that the prophecy on this point did not involve 
the coming of the Lord at all. They found in the Scriptures 
very clear evidence that the sanctuary referred to was the 
temple in heaven, which Paul calls " the sanctuary," the " true 
tabernacle, which the Lord pitched and not man ; " and that 
its cleansing, according to the type, would consist of the final 
ministration of the priest in the second apartment, or most holy 
place. They then saw that the time had come for the fulfil- 
ment of Rev. 11 : 19 : "And the temple of God was opened 
in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his 
testament." 

Having their attention thus called to the ark, they were 
naturally led to an examination of the law contained in the 
ark. That the ark contained the law was evident from the 
very name applied to it. It was called " the ark of his testa- 
ment ; " but it would not have been the ark of his " testament," 
and it could not have been so called, had it not contained the 
law. Here, then, was the ark in heaven, the great antitype of 
the ark, which, during the typical dispensation, existed here on 
earth ; and the law which this heavenly ark contained must 
consequently be the great original of which the law on the 
tables ki the earthly ark was but a transcript, or copy; and 
both must read precisely alike, word for word, jot for jot, 
tittle for tittle. To suppose otherwise would involve not only 
falsehood, but the greatest absurdity. That law, then, is still 
the law of God's government, and its fourth precept, now as 
in the beginning, demands the observance of the seventh day 
of the week as the Sabbath. 'No one who admits the argu- 
ment on the sanctuary pretends to dispute this point. Thus 
the Sabbath reform was brought to view ; and it was seen that 
whatever had been done in opposition to this law, especially 
in the introduction of a day of rest and worship which de- 
stroyed the Sabbath of Jehovah, must be the work of the papal 
beast, that power which was to oppose God, and try to exalt 
himself above him. But this is the very work in reference 
to which the third angel utters his warning ; hence it began 
to be seen that the period of the third message synchronizes 



750 



THE REVELATION 



with the period of the cleansing of the sanctuary, which began 
with the ending of the 2300 days in 1844, and that the proc- 
lamation is based on the great truths developed by this subject. 

Thus the dawning light of the third message rose upon the 
church. But they saw at once that the world would have a 
right to demand of those who professed to be giving that mes- 
sage, an explanation of all the symbols which it contains, — 
the beast, the image, the worship, and the mark; hence these 
points were made subjects of special study. The testimony 
of the Scriptures was found to be clear and abundant; and 
it did not take a great while to formulate from the truths 
revealed, definite statements and propositions in explanation 
of all these points. 

The argument showing what constitutes the beast, the im- 
age, and the mark, has already been given in chapter 13 ; and 
it has been shown that the two-horned beast, which erects the 
image and enforces the mark, is our own country, now in mid- 
career, and hastening forward to perform the very work as- 
signed it in the prophecy. It is this work, and these agents, 
against which the third message utters its warning, which is 
still further proof that this message is now in order, and 
shows the most conclusive harmony in all these prophecies. 
The arguments we need not here repeat; it will be sufficient 
to recapitulate the points established. 

1. The " beast " is the Roman Catholic power. 

2. The " mark of the beast " is that institution which this 
power has set up as proof of its authority to legislate for the 
church, and command the consciences of men under sin. It 
consists in a change of the law of God, by which the signature 
of royalty is taken from the law, — the seventh-day Sabbath, 
the great memorial of Jehovah's creative work, is torn from 
its place in the decalogue, and a false and counterfeit Sabbath, 
the first day of the week, is set up in its stead. 

3. The " image of the beast " is some ecclesiastical combi- 
nation, which will resemble the beast in being clothed with 
power to enforce its decrees with the pains and penalties of 
the civil law. 

4. The two-horned beast, by which the image, after being 



CHAPTER lk, VERSES 6 - 1% 



751 



made by the people, is given power to speak and act, is the 
United States ; and all bnt the final steps toward the formation 
of the image are already seen. 

5. The two-horned beast enforces the mark of the beast; 
that is, he establishes by law the observance of the first day 
of the week, or Sunday-sabbath. What is being done in this 
direction has already been noticed. The movement is urged 
on by individuals, by organized Sabbath committees, by poli- 
ticians, indirectly by the infidel element, by the National Re- 
form Association, by the American Sabbath (Sunday) Union, 
by the W. C. T. U., and by the Christian Endeavorers, with 
their Good Citizenship Leagues, etc. 

But the people are not to be left in the dark in this 
matter. The third message utters a solmen protest against all 
this evil. It exposes the work of the beast, shows the nature 
of its opposition to the law of God, warns the people against 
compliance with its demands, and points out to all the way of 
truth. This naturally excites opposition; and the church is 
led so much the more to seek the aid of human authority in 
behalf of its dogmas as they are shown to lack the divine. 

In the interests of these messages, the publication of a 
paper called the Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, was com- 
menced in 1850, which has continued to the present time, cir- 
culating in every State and Territory of the Union, and in 
many foreign countries. The Signs of the Times, published 
weekly in Mountain View, CaL, has attained a still larger cir- 
culation. Other English periodicals devoted to the exposition 
of the truths of this message are: The Watchman, published 
weekly at Nashville, Tenn. ; The Present Truth, weekly, pub- 
lished in London, Eng. ; The Australasian Signs of the Times, 
weekly, published at Warburton, Victoria, Australia; The Ori- 
ental Watchman, monthly, published in Calcutta, India; The 
Caribbean Watchman, monthly, published at Port of Spain, 
West Indies; The South African Sentinel, monthly, published 
at Kenilworth, South Africa; Liberty, published quarterly at 
the denominational headquarters in Washington, D. C. ; Life 
and Health, a health and temperance magazine, published 
monthly at the same place; also health and temperance maga- 



752 



THE REVELATION 



zines published in England and in Australia. Besides these 
English periodicals, there are periodicals issued in the German, 
French, Spanish, Russian, Danish-Norwegian, Holland, Hun- 
garian, Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese, Bohemian, Swedish, 
Finnish, and other languages ; and publishing houses located at 
Washington, D. C, Mountain View, Cal. ; Nashville, Tenn. ; 
Buenos Ayres, Argentina ; Christiana, Norway ; Honan, China ; 
Copenhagen, Denmark; Warburton, Australia; Karmatar, In- 
dia; Hamburg, Germany; Helsingfors, Finland; Geneva, Swit- 
zerland; London, England; Tacubaya, Mexico; Cape Town, 
South Africa; Stockholm, Sweden; College View, Nebraska; 
Taquary, Brazil ; Port of Spain, West Indies ; South Lancaster, 
Mass. ; and Toronto Junction, Canada. Tracts, periodicals, 
and bound books are published in more than thirty different 
languages, and nearly 3,000 ministers and other workers are 
giving their whole time to the proclamation of this third an- 
gel's message in various parts of the world, to advance which 
more than a million dollars is annually contributed. Scarcely 
a country in the world can be named to which the literature 
and the representatives of this message have not now gone; 
and the tide of its power is continually and rapidly rising. 

This movement is at least a phenomenon to be explained. 
We have found movements which fulfil most strikingly and 
accurately the first and second messages. Here is another 
which now challenges the attention of the world as a fulfil- 
ment of the third. It claims to be a fulfilment, and asks the 
world to examine the credentials on which it bases its right to 
such a claim. Let us look at them. 

1. " The third angel followed them." So this movement 
follows the two previously mentioned. It takes up and con- 
tinues the promulgation of the truths they uttered, and adds 
to them what the third message involves besides. 

2. The third message is characterized as a warning against 
the beast. So this movement holds prominent among its themes 
an explanation of this symbol, telling the people what it is, 
and exposing its blasphemous claims and works. 

3. The third message warns all against worshiping the 
beast. So this movement explains how this beast-power has 



CHAPTER lk, VERSES 6 - 12 



753 



brought into Christendom certain institutions which antag- 
onize the requirements of the Most High, and shows that if 
we yield to these, we worship this power. " Know ye not," 
says Paul, " that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to 
obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey ? " Eom. 6:16. 

4. The third message warns all against receiving the mark 
of the beast. So this movement makes it the burden of its 
work to show what the mark of the beast is, and to warn 
against its reception. It is the more solicitous to do this, be- 
cause this antichristian power has worked so cunningly that 
the majority are deceived into making unconscious concessions 
to its authority. It is shown that the mark of the beast is an 
institution which has been arrayed in Christian garb, and in- 
sidiously introduced into the Christian church in such a way 
as to nullify the authority of Jehovah and enthrone that of 
the beast. Stripped of all disguises, it is simply setting up a 
counterfeit sabbath of its own on the first day of the week, 
in place of the Sabbath of the Lord on the seventh day, — a 
usurpation which the great God cannot tolerate, and from 
which the remnant church must fully clear itself before it 
will be prepared for the coming of Christ. Hence the urgent 
warning, Let no man worship the beast or receive his mark. 

5. The third message has something to say against the wor- 
ship of the image of the beast. So this movement speaks of 
this subject also, telling what the image will be, or at least 
explaining the prophecy of the two-horned beast, which makes 
the image, showing that it is our own government; that here 
the image is to be formed; that the prophecy concerns this 
generation; and that it is evidently on the very verge of ful- 
filment. 

There is no religious enterprise going forward in the land 
except this by the Seventh-day Adventists, which claims to be 
a fulfilment of the third angel's message, — no other which 
holds forth, as its prominent themes, the very subjects of which 
this message is composed. What shall we do with these things ? 
Is this the fulfilment ? — It must so stand, unless its claims can 
be disproved; unless it can be shown that the first and second 
messages have not been heard; that the positions taken in ref- 



754 THE REVELATION 

erence to the beast, image, mark, and worship are not correct; 
and that all the prophecies, and signs, and evidences which 
show that the coming of Christ is near, and consequently that 
this message is due, can be wholly set aside. But this the 
intelligent Bible student will hardly undertake. 

The result of the proclamation, as declared in verse 12, still 
further proves the correctness of the positions here taken. It 
brings out a conrpany of whom it can be said, " Here are they 
that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. 7 ' 
In the very heart of Christendom this work is done ; and those 
who receive the message are rendered peculiar by their practice 
in reference to the commandments of God. What difference 
is there in practice, and what only difference, among Christians, 
in this respect? — Just this; some think that the fourth com- 
mandment is kept by devoting the first day of the week to rest 
and worship; others claim that the seventh day is the one set 
apart to such duties, and accordingly spend its hours in this 
manner, resuming on the first day their ordinary labor. ~No 
plainer line of demarkation could be drawn between two classes. 
The time which one class regard as sacred, and devote to relig- 
ious uses, the other look upon as only secular, and devote to 
ordinary labor. One class are devoutly resting, the other zeal- 
ously laboring. One class, pursuing their worldly vocations, 
find the other class withdrawn from all such pursuits, and the 
avenue of commercial intercourse abruptly closed. Thus for 
two days in the week these two classes are kept apart by differ- 
ence of theory and practice in regard to the fourth command- 
ment. On no other commandment could there be so marked 
a difference. 

The message brings its adherents to the seventh day; for in 
this way only are they made peculiar, inasmuch as an observ- 
ance of the first day would not distinguish a person from the 
masses who were already observing that day when the message 
was introduced. And in this we find still further evidence 
that Sunday-keeping is the mark of the beast ; for the message, 
presenting as its chief burden a warning against receiving the 
mark of the beast, will of course bring its adherents to discard 
that practice which constitutes the mark, and to adopt the oppo- 



CHAPTER lk, VERSES 6 - 12 



755 



site. It does lead them to discard the observance of the first 
day of the week, and adopt that of the seventh day. In view 
of this, it is at once seen that there is here more than an infer- 
ence that Sunday-keeping is the mark of the beast against which 
it warns us, and the observance of the seventh day, to which 
it leads us, is its opposite. 

This is in harmony with the argument on the seal of God, 
as given in chapter 7. It was there shown that sign, seal, 
mark, and token are synonymous terms, and that God takes 
his Sabbath to be his sign, mark, or seal, in reference to his 
people. Thus God has a seal, or mark, which is his Sabbath. 
The beast also has a seal, or mark, which is his Sabbath. One 
is the seventh day; the other is just as far removed from it as 
possible, even to the other extremity of the week, namely, the 
first day. Christendom will at last be divided into just two 
classes ; to wit, those who are sealed with the seal of the living 
God — that is, have his mark, or keep his Sabbath — and those 
who are sealed with the seal of the beast — ■ that is, have his 
mark, or keep his Sabbath. In reference to this issue, the 
third angel's message both enlightens and warns us. 

As so much importance, according to this argument, at- 
taches to the seventh day, the reader may ask for some evi- 
dence that a person cannot be said to keep the commandments 
of God unless he does keep the seventh day. This would 
involve a discussion of the whole Sabbath question, which it 
is not the province of this work to give. Though it may be 
proper to present here, as this much perhaps is called for in 
this connection, the leading facts connected with the Sabbath 
institution, — facts which are fully sustained in the works re- 
ferred to in the note below. 1 

1. The Sabbath was instituted in the beginning, at the 
conclusion of the first week of time. Gen. 2 : 1-3. 

2. It was the seventh day of that week, and was based on 
facts which are inseparably connected with its very name and 

1 As a standard -work on the question, we refer the reader to the " History of the 
Sabbath and First Day of the Week," by Elder J. N. Andrews, for sale by the 
Southern Publishing Association, Nashville, Tenn., in which the question as related to 
the two days is thoroughly discussed from both a Biblical and a historical stand- 
point. But many less exhaustive works are issued at the Office above named, ac- 
cording to its catalogue, and at other offices herein named, which are conclusive, 
SO lar as they carry the argument. 



756 THE REVELATION 



existence, — facts which never can become untrue, and never 
can be changed. God's resting on the seventh day made it his 
rest-day, or the Sabbath (rest) of the Lord; and it can never 
cease to be his rest-day, as that fact never can be changed. 
He sanctified, or set apart, the day then and there, the record 
states; and that sanctification can never cease, unless it is re- 
moved by an act on the part of Jehovah as direct and explicit 
as that by which he placed it upon the day in the beginning. 
No one claims that this has ever been done, and he could not 
prove it if he did so claim. 

3. The Sabbath has nothing in it of a typical, shadowy, or 
ceremonial nature; for it was instituted before man sinned, 
and hence belongs to a time when, in the very nature of things, 
a type, or shadow, could not exist. 

4. The laws and institutions which existed before man's 
fall were primary in their nature; they grew out of the re- 
lation between God and man, and man and man, and were 
such as would always have remained if man never had sinned, 
and were not affected by his sin. In other words, they were, 
in the very nature of things, immutable and eternal. Cere- 
monial and typical laws owed their origin to the fact that 
man had sinned, as they never would have existed had this 
never been a fact. These were from dispensation to dispensa- 
tion subject to change ; and these, and these only, were abol- 
ished at the cross. The Sabbath law was a primary law, 
and therefore immutable and eternal. 

5. The sanctification of the Sabbath in Eden renders its 
existence certain from creation to Sinai. Here it was placed 
in the very bosom of the decalogue as God spoke it with an 
audible voice, and wrote it with his finger on tables of stone, 
— circumstances which forever separate it from ceremonial 
laws, and place it among the moral and eternal. 

6. The Sabbath is not indefinite, any seventh day after six 
of labor. The law from Sinai (Ex. 20:8-11) makes it as 
definite as language can make it ; the events that gave it birth 
( Gen. 2:1-3) confine it to the definite seventh day ; and the 
6,240 Sabbath miracles in the wilderness, three each week for 
forty years; namely, (1) a double portion of manna on the 



CHAPTER U, VERSES 6 - 12 



757 



sixth day, (2) the preservation of the sixth-day manna on the 
seventh day, and (3) none on the seventh day (See Exodns 
16), show that it is one particular day, and not simply a pro- 
portion of time. To claim otherwise would be like claiming 
that Washington's birthday or Independence day was only a 
365th part of a year, and might be celebrated on any other 
day as well as the day upon which it occurred. 

7. The Sabbath is a part of that law which our Lord openly 
declared that he came not to destroy. On the other hand, he 
most solemnly affirmed that it should endure in every jot and 
tittle while the earth should continue. Matt. 5 : 17 - 20. 

8. It is a part of that law which Paul declares is not 
made void, but established, by faith in Christ. Rom. 3:31. 
The ceremonial or typical law, which pointed to Christ and 
ceased at the cross, is made void, or superseded, by faith in 
him. Eph. 2: 15. 

9. It is a part of that royal law, a law pertaining to the 
King Jehovah, which James declares is a law of liberty, and 
which shall judge us at the last day. God does not have 
different standards of judgment for different ages of the world. 
James 2: 11, 12. 

10. It is the " Lord's day" of Rev. 1:10. (See argu- 
ment on that verse.) 

11. It appears as the institution in reference to which a 
great reform is predicted in the last days. Isa. 56:1, 2 
compared with 1 Peter 1:5. Under this head would also 
come the message under consideration. 

12. And in the new creation, the Sabbath, true to its ori- 
gin and nature, again appears, and will thenceforward shed 
its blessings upon God's people through all eternity. Isa. 
66:22, 23^ 

Such is a brief synopsis of some of the arguments to show 
that the Sabbath law has been in no wise relaxed, and the 
institution in no way changed; and that a person cannot be 
said to keep the commandments of God unless he keeps it. 
To have to do with such an institution is a high honor. To 
pay heed to its claims will prove an infinite blessing. 



758 



TEE REVELATION 



The Punishment of Beast-worshipers. — These shall be tor- 
mented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy 
angels and of the Lamb. When is this torment inflicted ? 
Chapter 19 : 20 shows that at the second coming of Christ there 
is a manifestation of fiery judgments which may be called a 
lake of .fire and brimstone, into which the beast and false 
prophet are cast alive. This can refer only to the destruction 
visited upon them at the commencement, not at the end, of the 
thousand years. Again, there is a remarkable passage in Isaiah 
to which we are obliged to refer in explanation of the phrase- 
ology of the threatening of the third angel, and which unques- 
tionably describes scenes to take place here at the second advent, 
and in the desolate state of the earth during the thousand years 
following. That the language in the Revelation was borrowed 
from this prophecy can hardly fail to be seen. After describ- 
ing the Lord's anger upon the nations, the great slaughter of 
their armies, the departing of the heavens as a scroll, etc., the 
prophet says : " For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, and 
the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion. And the 
streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof 
into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning 
pitch. It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke 
thereof shall go up forever; from generation to generation it 
shall lie waste; none shall pass through it forever and ever." 
Isa. 34: 8 - 10. And since it is expressly revealed that there is 
to be a lake of fire in which all sinners perish at the end of the 
thousand years, we can only conclude that the destruction of 
the living wicked at the commencement of this period, and the 
final doom of all the ungodly at its close, are very similar. 

Duration of the Punishment. — The expression " forever 
and ever " cannot here denote eternity. This is evident from 
the fact that this punishment is inflicted on this earth, where 
time is measured by day and night. This is further shown 
from the passage in Isaiah already referred to, if that is, as 
above suggested, the language from which this is borrowed, 
and applies to the same time. That language is spoken of the 
land of Idumea; but whether it be taken to mean literally the 
land of Edom, south and east of Judea, or to represent, as it 



CHAPTER lk, VERSES 9 - 16 



759 



doubtless does, this whole earth at the time when the Lord 
Jesus shall be revealed from heaven in naming fire, and the 
year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion comes, in 
either case the scene must eventually terminate ; for this earth 
is finally to be made new, cleansed of every stain of sin, every 
vestige of suffering and decay, and to become the habitation of 
righteousness and joy throughout eternal ages. The word aluv 
here translated forever, Schrevelius, in his Greek Lexicon, de- 
fines thus : a An age ; a long period of time ; indefinite dura- 
tion; time, whether longer or shorter." (For a discussion of 
the meaning of this term, see the work entitled, Here and Here- 
after. Southern Publishing Association, Nashville, Tenn.) 

The period of the third message is a time of patience with 
the people of God. Paul and James both give us instruction 
on this point. Heb. 10: 36; James 5:7, 8. Meanwhile this 
waiting company are keeping the commandments of God — ■ 
the ten commandments, and the faith of J esus — all the teach- 
ings of Christ and his apostles as contained in the New Testa- 
ment. The true Sabbath, as given in the decalogue, is thus 
brought out in vivid contrast with the counterfeit sabbath, the 
mark of the beast, which finally distinguishes those who reject 
the third message, as already set forth. 

Verse 13. And I heard a voice from heaven saying nnto me, 
Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: 
Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors ; and their 
works do follow them. 1-i. And I looked, and behold a white cloud, 
and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his 
head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. 15. And another 
angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat 
on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come 
for thee to reap ; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. 16. And he that 
sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was 
reaped. 

A Solemn Crisis. — Events grow solemn as we near the 
end. It is this fact which gives to the third angel's message, 
now going forth, its unusual degree of solemnity and impor- 
tance. It is the last warning to go forth prior to the coming 
of the Son of man, here represented as seated upon a white 
cloud, a crown upon his head, and a sickle in his hand, to 
48 



760 



THE REVELATION 



reap the harvest of the earth. We are fast passing over a line 
of prophecy which culminates in the revelation of the Lord 
Jesus from heaven in flaming fire, to take vengeance on his 
foes, and to reward his saints. Not only so., but we have come 
so near its accomplishment that the very next link in the chain 
is this crowning and momentous event. And time never rolls 
back. As the river does not flinch and fly as it approaches the 
precipice, but bears all floating bodies over with resistless 
power; and as the seasons never reverse their course, but sum- 
mer follows in the path of the budding fig-tree, and winter 
treads close upon the falling leaf ; so we are borne onward and 
onward, whether we will or not, whether prepared or not, to 
the unavoidable and irreversible crisis. Ah! how little dream 
the proud professor and the careless sinner of the doom that 
is impending ! And how hard for even those who know and 
profess the truth to realize it as it is ! 

A Blessing Promised. — John is commanded by a voice 
from heaven to write, " Blessed are the dead which die in the 
Lord from henceforth ; " and the response of the Spirit is, 
" Yea, that they may rest from their labors ; and their works 
do follow them." " From henceforth " must signify from sOme 
particular point of time. What point ? — Evidently from the 
commencement of the message in connection with which this 
is spoken. But why are those who die after this point of time 
blessed ? There must be some special reason for pronouncing 
this benediction upon them. Is it not because they escape the 
time of fearful peril which the saints are to encounter as they 
close their pilgrimage ? And while they are thus blessed in 
common with all the righteous dead, they have an advantage 
over them in being, doubtless, that company spoken of in Dan. 
12 : 2, who are raised to everlasting life at the standing up of 
Michael. Thus, escaping the perils through which the rest 
of the 144,000 pass, they rise, and share with them in their 
final triumph here, and occupy with them their pre-eminent 
place in the kingdom. 1 In this way, we understand, their 

1 Those who die after having become identified with the third angel's message, 
are evidently numbered as a part of the 144,000; for this message is the same as the 
sealing message of Revelation 7, and by that message only 144,000 were sealed. 
But there are many who have had their entire religious experience under this message, 
but have fallen in death. They die in the Lord, and hence are counted as sealed; 



CHAPTER U h VERSES 13 - 16 



761 



works follow them: these works are held in remembrance, to 
be rewarded at the judgment ; and the persons receive the same 
recompense that they would have had, had they lived and faith- 
fully endured all the perils of the time of trouble. 

It will be noticed that in this line of prophecy, three angels 
precede the Son of man on the white cloud, and three are in- 
troduced- after that symbol. The opinion has already been 
expressed that literal angels are engaged in the scenes here 
described. The first three have charge of the three special 
messages, and may also symbolize a body of religious teachers. 
The message of the fourth angel is evidently to be uttered after 
the Son of man, having finished his priestly work, takes his 
seat upon the white cloud, but before he appears in the clouds 
of heaven. As the language is addressed to Him who is seated 
upon the white cloud, having in his hand a sharp sickle ready 
to reap, it must denote a message of prayer on the part of the 
church, after their work for the world is done and probation 
has ceased, and nothing remains but for the Lord to appear 
and take his people to himself. It is doubtless the day-and- 
night cry spoken of by our Lord in Luke 18:7, 8 in connec- 
tion with the coming of the Son of man. And this prayer 
will be answered; the elect will be avenged; for does not the 
parable read, "And shall not God avenge his own elect, which 
cry day and night unto him ? " He that is seated upon the 
cloud will thrust in his sickle, and the saints, under the figure 
of the wheat of the earth, will be gathered into the heavenly 
garner. 

The Wheat Garnered. — "And he that sat on the cloud," 
says the prophecy, " thrust in his sickle on the earth ; and the 
earth was reaped." By this language we are carried down 
past the second advent, with its accompanying scenes of de- 

for they will be saved. But the message results in the sealing of only 14-4,000; 
therefore these must be included in that number. Being raised in the special resur- 
rection (Dan. 12:2; Rev. 1:7) which occurs when the voice of God is uttered 
from the temple, at the beginning of the seventh and last plague (Rev. 16: 17; Joel 
3: 16; Heb. 12: 26), they pass through the period of that plague, and hence may be 
said to come " out of great tribulation " (Rev. 7: 14), and being raised from the 
grave onty to mortal lite, they take their stand with believers who have not died, 
and with them receive immortality at the last trump (1 Cor. 15: 52), being then, 
with the others, changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. Thus, though 
they have passed through the grave, it can be said of them at last, that they are 
" redeemed from among men " (Rev. 14: 4), that is, from among the living; for the 
coming of Christ finds them among the living, waiting for the change to immortality, 
like those who have not died, and as if they themselves had never died. 



762 THE REVELATION 

struction to the wicked and salvation to the righteous. Be- 
yond these scenes we must therefore look for the application 
of the following verses: — 

Verse 17. And another angel came out of the temple which is in 
heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. 18. And another angel came 
out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud 
cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp 
sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth ; for her grapes 
are f ully ripe. 19. And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, 
and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great wine- 
press of the wrath of God. 20. And the winepress was trodden with- 
out the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the 
horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs. 

The Winepress of God's Wrath. — The last two angels have 
to do with the wicked, — the wicked, most fitly represented by 
the bloated and purple clusters of the vine of the earth. May 
it not be that the closing doom of that class at the end of the 
thousand years is here presented, the prophecy thus making 
a final disposition of both the righteous and the wicked; the 
righteous clothed with immortality, and safely established in 
the kingdom, the wicked perishing around the city at the time 
of its ultimate location upon the earth ? 

This can hardly be applied at the time of the second ad- 
vent ; for events are here given in chronological order ; and the 
destruction of the wicked would be contemporaneous with the. 
gathering of the righteous. Again, the living wicked at 
Christ's coming drink of the " cup " of his indignation ; but 
this passage brings to view the time when they perish, in the 
" winepress " of his wrath, which is said to be trodden " with- 
out the city," answering completely to the description of Rev. 
20:9; and this latter expression would more naturally denote 
their complete and final destruction. 

The angel comes out of the temple, where the records are 
kept and the punishment is determined. The other angel has 
power over fire. This may have some connection with the fact 
that fire is the element by which the wicked are at last to be 
destroyed, although, to carry out the figure, the wicked, having 
been likened to the clusters of the vine of the earth, are said 
to be cast into the great winepress, which is trodden without 



CHAPTER U, VERSES 17 - 20 



763 



the city. And blood comes out of the winepress, even to the 
horses' bridles. We know that the wicked are doomed to be 
swallowed up at last in a flood of all-devouring flame descend- 
ing from God out of heaven; but what preceding slaughter 
may take place among the doomed host, we know not. It is 
not improbable that this language will be literally fulfilled. 
As the first four angels of this series denoted a marked move- 
ment on the part of the people of God, the last two may denote 
the same ; for the saints are to have some part to act in meting 
out and executing the final punishment of the wicked. 1 Cor. 
6:2; Ps. 149 : 9. 

The Saints Triumphant. — Thus closes this chain of proph- 
ecy — closes as others close, with the complete triumph of God 
and Christ over all their foes, and with the glorious salvation 
that awaits the faithful followers of the Prince of life, for- 
ever secured. 



THIS chapter introduces the seven last plagues, a mani- 
festation of Heaven's unmingied wrath, and the fulness 
of its measure, for the last generation of the wicked. 
The work of mercy is then forever past. 

Verse 1. And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, 
seven angels having the seven last plagues ; for in them is filled up the 
wrath of God. 2. And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with 
fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over 
his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand 
on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. 3. And they sing the 
song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, 
Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and 
true are thy ways, thou King of saints. 4. Who shall not fear thee, 
O Lord, and glorify thy name ? for thou only art holy : for all nations 
shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made 
manifest. 5. And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of 
the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened: 6. And the 
seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed 
in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden 
girdles. 7. And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels 
seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth forever and 
ever. 8. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, 
and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, 
till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled. 

A Preparatory Scene. — Thus reads the fifteenth chapter 
entire. By it we are carried back to a new series of events. 
The whole chapter is but an introduction to the most terrific 
judgments of the Almighty that ever have been, or are to be, 
visited upon this earth in its present state ; namely, the seven 
last plagues. The most that we here behold is a solemn prep- 
(764) 



CHAPTER 15, VERSES 1-8 



765 



aration for the outpouring of these unmixed vials. Verse 5 
shows that these plagues fall after the close of the ministra- 
tion in the sanctuary; for the temple is opened before they are 
poured out. They are given in charge to seven angels, and 
these angels are clothed in linen pure and white, a fit emblem 
of the purity of God's righteousness and justice in the inflic- 
tion of these judgments. They receive these vials from one of 
the four beasts, or living creatures. These living beings were 
proved (see on chaijter 4) to be a class of Christ's assistants 
in his sanctuary work. How appropriate, then, that they 
should be the ones to deliver to the ministers of vengeance 
the vials of the wrath to be poured upon those who have slighted 
Christ's mercy, abused his long-suffering, heaped contumely 
upon his name, and crucified him afresh in the treatment of 
his followers ! While the seven angels are performing their 
fearful mission, the temple is filled with the glory of God, 
and no man — ovSels (oudeis), no one, no being, referring to 
Christ and his heavenly assistants — can enter therein. This 
shows that the work of mercy is closed, as there is no minis- 
tration in the sanctuary during the infliction of the plagues; 
hence they are manifestations of the wrath of God without any 
mixture of mercy. 

God's People Bemembered. — In this scene the people of 
God are not forgotten. The prophet is permitted to anticipate 
a little in verses 2-4, and behold them as victors upon the sea 
of glass as it were mingled with fire, or sparkling and refulgent 
with the glory of God, singing the song of Moses and the Lamb. 
The sea of glass, upon which these victors stand, is the same as 
that brought to view in chapter 4: 6, which was before the 
throne in heaven. And as we have no evidence that it has yet 
changed its location, and the saints are seen upon it, we have 
here indubitable proof, in connection with chapter 14 : 1 - 5, 
that the saints are taken to heaven to receive a portion of their 
reward. Thus, like the bright sun bursting through the mid- 
night cloud, some scene is presented, or some promise given, 
to the humble followers of the Lamb, in every hour of tempta- 
tion, as if to assure and reassure them of God's love and care 
for them, and of the certainty of their final reward. Verily 



766 



THE REVELATION 



the words of the prophet are among the true sayings of God: 
" Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him; " but 
" Woe nnto the wicked ! it shall be ill with him." Isa. 3 : 
10, 11. 

The song the victors sing, the song of Moses and the Lamb, 
given here in epitome in these words : " Great and marvelous 
are thy works, Lord God Almighty ; just and true are thy ways, 
thou King of saints/ 7 is a song of infinite grandeur. How 
comprehensive in its terms ! how sublime in its theme ! It 
appeals to the works of God which are a manifestation of his 
glory. With immortal vision the saints will be able to com- 
prehend them as they cannot here; and yet astronomy reveals 
enough to fill all hearts with admiration. From our little 
world we pass out to our sun ninety-three million miles away; 
on to its nearest neighboring sun, nineteen thousand million 
miles away; on to the great double pole-star, from which it 
takes light, in its electric flight of one hundred and ninety-two 
thousand miles a second, forty years to reach our world; on 
past systems, groups, constellations, till we reach the great star 
Alcyone, in the Pleiades, shining with the power of twelve thou- 
sand suns like ours ! What, then, must be the grand center 
around which these myriads of shining orbs revolve! Well 
may the song be raised, " Great and marvelous are thy works." 
But the song covers another field also — the field of God's 
providence and grace : " Just and true are thy ways, thou 
King of saints." All the dealings of God with all his crea- 
tures in the eyes of the redeemed, and the sight of all worlds, 
will be forever vindicated. After all our blindness, all our 
perplexities, all our trials, we shall be able to exclaim at last 
in the exuberance of satisfied joy, " J ust and true are thy 
ways, thou King of saints." 




THIS chapter gives a description of the seven vials of the 
unmingled wrath of God, and the effects that follow as 
they are ponred npon the earth. Concerning the char- 
acter and chronology of these plagues, there is a difference of 
opinion among Bihle readers. Onr first inquiry therefore is, 
What is the true position on these points ? Are they symbol- 
ical, and mostly fulfilled in the past, as some contend ? or are 
they literal, and all future, as others no less confidently affirm ? 
A brief examination of the testimony will, we think, conclu- 
sively settle these questions. 

Verse 1. And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the 
seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of 
God upon the earth. 2. And the first went, and poured out his vial 
upon the earth ; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the 
men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which wor- 
shiped his image. 

The Chronology of the Plagues. — The description of this 
plague clearly reveals at once their chronology ; for it is poured 
out upon those who have the mark of the beast, and who wor- 
ship his image, — the identical work against which the third 
angel warns us. This is conclusive proof that these judgments 
are not poured out till after this angel closes his work, and 
that the very class who hear his warning, and reject it, are 
the ones to receive the first drops from the overflowing vials 
of God's indignation. ISTow, if these plagues are in the past, 
the image of the beast and his worship are in the past. If 

(767) 



768 



TEE REVELATION 



these are past, the two-horned beast, which makes this image, 
and his work, are in the past. If these are past, then the 
third angel's message, which warns us in reference to this 
work, is in the past; and if this is past, — that is, ages in the 
past, where this view locates the commencement of the plagues, 
— then the first and second messages, which precede that, 
were also ages in the past. Then the prophetic periods, on 
which the messages are based, especially the 2300 days, ended 
ages ago. And if this is so, the seventy weeks of Daniel 9 
are thrown wholly into the Jewish dispensation, and the great 
proof of the Messiahship of Christ is destroyed. But it has 
been shown on chapters 7, 13, and 14, that the first and second 
messages have been given in our own day; that the third is 
now in process of accomplishment; that the two-horned beast 
has come upon the stage of action, and is preparing to do the 
work assigned him; and that the formation of the image and 
the enforcement of the worship are just in the future. And 
unless all these positions can be overthrown, the seven last 
plagues must also be assigned wholly to the future. 

But there are other reasons for locating them in the future 
and not in the past. 

1. Under the fifth plague, men blaspheme God because of 
their sores, the same sores, of course, caused by the outpouring 
of the first plague. This shows that these plagues all fall upon 
one and the same generation of men, some being, no doubt, 
swept off by each one, yet some surviving through the terrible 
scenes of them all ; a fact utterly subversive of the position that 
they commenced far in the past, and occupy centuries each in 
their fulfilment, for how, then, could those who experience 
the first plague be alive under the fifth ? 

2. These plagues are the wine of God's wrath without mix- 
ture, threatened by the third angel. Chapter 14:10; 15:1. 
Such language cannot be applied to any judgments visited 
upon the earth while Christ pleads between his Father and our 
fallen race; hence we must locate them in the future, when 
probation shall have closed. 

3. Another and more definite testimony as to the commence- 
ment and duration of these plagues is found in chapter 15 : 



CHAPTER 16, VERSES 1, 2 



769 



8: "And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of 
God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into 
the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were ful- 
filled." The temple here introduced is evidently that which 
is mentioned in chapter 11 : 19, where it says, " The temple of 
God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple 
the ark of his testament." In other words, we have before us 
the heavenly sanctuary. The testimony is, then, that when the 
seven angels with the seven golden vials receive their com- 
mission, the temple is filled with smoke from the glory of God, 
and no being can enter into the temple, or sanctuary, till they 
have fulfilled their work; there will therefore be no ministra- 
tion in the sanctuary during this time. Consequently, these 
vials are not poured out till the close of the ministration in the 
tabernacle above, but immediately follow that event ; for Christ 
is then no longer a mediator; mercy, which has long stayed 
the hand of vengeance, pleads no more; the servants of God 
are all sealed. What could then be expected but that the 
" storm of vengeance should fall," and earth be swept with 
the besom of destruction ? 

Having now shown the chronology of these judgments, that 
they are before us in the very near future, treasured up against 
the day of wrath, we proceed to inquire into their nature, and 
what will result when the solemn and fearful mandate shall go 
forth from the temple to the seven angels, saying, " Go your 
ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the 
earth." Here we are called to look into the " armory " of 
the Lord, and behold the " weapons of his indignation." Jer. 
50:25. Here are brought forth the treasures of hail, which 
have been reserved against the time of trouble, against the 
day of battle and war. Job 38: 22, 23. 

The First Plague. — "And the first went, and poured out 
his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous 
sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon 
them which worshiped his image." 

There is no apparent reason why this should not be re- 
garded as strictly literal. These plagues are almost identical 
with those which God inflicted upon the Egyptians as he was 



770 



THE REVELATION 



about to deliver his people from the yoke of bondage, the liter- 
ality of which is seldom, if ever, called in question. God is 
now about to crown his people with their final deliverance and 
redemption, and his judgments will be manifested in a manner 
no less literal and terrible. What the sore here threatened is, 
we are not informed. Perhaps it may be similar to the parallel 
plague which fell upon Egypt. Ex. 9:8-11. 

Verse 3. And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; 
and it became as the blood of a dead man; and every living soul died 
in the sea. 

The Second Plague. — A more infectious and deadly sub- 
stance can scarcely be conceived of than the blood of a dead 
man; and the thought that the great bodies of water on the 
earth, which are doubtless meant by the term sea, will be 
changed to such a state under this plague, presents a fearful 
picture. We have here the remarkable fact that the term 
living soul is applied to irrational animals, the fish and living 
creatures of the sea. This is, we believe, the only instance 
of such an application in the English Version; in the origi- 
nal, however, it occurs frequently; showing that the term as 
applied to man in the beginning (Gen. 2:7) cannot be taken 
as furnishing any evidence that he is endowed with an imma- 
terial and immortal essence, called the soul. 

Verse 4. And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers 
and fountains of waters; and they became blood. 5. And I heard 
the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, 
and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. 6. For they 
have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them 
blood to drink; for they are worthy. 7. And I heard another out 
of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are 
thy judgments. 

The Third Plague. — Such is the description of the terrible 
retribution for the " blood of saints " shed by violent hands, 
which will be given to those who have done, or wish to do, 
such deeds. And though the horrors of that hour when the 
fountains and rivers of water shall be like blood, cannot now 
be realized, the justice of God will stand vindicated, and his 
judgments approved. Even the angels are heard exclaiming, 




SEVEN ANGELS POURING OUT THE SEVEN LAST PLAGUES 



CHAPTER 18, VERSES h ■ 11 



773 



Thou art righteous, 0 Lord, because thou hast judged thus; 
for they have shed the blood of saints and prophets. Even 
so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments. 

It may be asked how the last generation of the wicked can 
be said to have shed the blood of saints and prophets, since the 
last generation of saints are not to be slain. A reference to 
Matt. 23:34, 35; 1 John 3:15, will explain. These scrip- 
tures show that guilt attaches to motive no less than to action; 
and no generation ever formed a more determined purpose to 
devote the saints to indiscriminate slaughter than the present 
generation will, not far in the future. (See chapter 12: 17; 
13: 15.) In motive and purpose, they do shed the blood of 
saints and prophets, and are every whit as guilty as if they 
were able to carry out their wicked intentions. 

It would seem that none of the human family could long 
survive a continuance of a plague so terrible as this. It must 
therefore be limited in its duration, as was the similar one on 
Egypt. Ex. 7: 17-21, 25. 

Verse 8. And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; 
and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. 9. And men 
were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, 
which hath power over these plagues; and they repented not to give 
him glory. 

The Fourth Plague. — It is worthy of notice that every 
succeeding plague tends to augment the calamity of the pre- 
vious ones and to heighten the anguish of the guilty sufferers. 
We have now a noisome and grievous sore preying upon men, 
inflaming their blood, and pouring its feverish influence through 
their veins. In addition to this, they have only blood to allay 
their burning thirst; and, as if to crown all, power is given 
unto the sun, and he pours upon them a flood of liquid fire, 
and they are scorched with great heat. Here, as the record 
runs, their woe first seeks utterance in fearful blasphemy. 

Verse 10. And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of 
the^ beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed 
their tongues for pain. 11. And blasphemed the God of heaven be- 
cause of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds. 



TEE REVELATION 



The Fifth Plague. — An important fact is established by 
this testimony ; namely, that the plagnes do not at once destroy 
all their victims ; for some who were at first smitten with sores, 
we find still living under the fifth vial, and gnawing their 
. tongues for pain. An illustration of this vial will be found in 
Ex. 10:21- 23. It is poured upon the seat of the beast, the 
papacy. The seat of the beast^ is wherever the papal See is 
located, which has been thus far, and without doubt will con- 
tinue to be, the city of Rome. " His kingdom " probably 
embraces all those who are subjects of the pope in an ecclesi- 
astical point of view, wherever they may be. 

As those who place the plagues in the past have the first 
five already wholly accomplished, we here pause a moment to 
inquire where, in past ages, the judgments here threatened 
have been fulfilled. Can judgments so terrible be inflicted, 
and nobody know it ? If not, where is the history of the ful- 
filment? When did a noisome and grievous sore fall upon a 
specified and extensive portion of mankind ? When did the 
sea become as the blood of a dead man, and every living soul 
die in it ? When did the fountains and rivers become blood, 
and people have blood to drink ? When did the sun so scorch 
men with fire as to extort from them curses and blasphemy? 
And when did the subjects of the beast gnaw their tongues for 
pain, and at the same time blaspheme God on account of their 
sores ? Interpreters who thus put such scenes in the past, 
where a shadow of fulfilment cannot be shown, openly invite 
the scoffs and ridicule of the skeptically minded against God's 
holy book, and furnish them with potent weapons for their de- 
plorable work. In these plagues, says Inspiration, is filled up 
the wrath of God ; but if they can be fulfilled and nobody know 
it, who shall henceforth consider his wrath so terrible a thing, 
or shrink from his judgments when they are threatened? 

Verse 12. And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great 
river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way 
of the kings of the east might be prepared. 13. And I saw three un- 
clean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out 
of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 
14. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth 
unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to 



CHAPTER 16, VERSES 12 - 16 



775 



the battle of that great day of God Almighty. 15. Behold, I come as 
a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest 
he walk naked, and they see his shame. 16. And he gathered them to- 
gether into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. 

The Sixth Plague. — What is the great River Euphrates, 
upon which this vial is poured out ? — One view is that it 
is the literal River Euphrates in Asia; another is that it is 
a symbol of the nation occupying the territory through which 
that river flows. The latter opinion is preferable for the fol- 
lowing reasons : — 

1. It would be difficult to see what end would be gained by 
the drying up of the literal river, as that would not offer an 
obstruction at all serious to the progress of an advancing army ; 
and it should be noticed that the drying up takes place to pre- 
pare the way of the kings of the East ; that is, regular military 
organizations, and not a promiscuous and unequipped crowd of 
men, women, and children, like the children of Israel at the 
Red Sea or at the Jordan. The Euphrates is only about 1,400 
miles in length, or about one third the size of the Mississippi. 
Cyrus, without difficulty, turned the whole river from its chan- 
nel at his siege of Babylon; and notwithstanding the numer- 
ous wars that have been carried on along its banks, and the 
mighty hosts that have crossed and recrossed its streams, it 
never yet had to be dried up to let them pass. 

2. It would be as necessary to dry up the River Tigris as 
the Euphrates; for that is nearly as large as the latter. Its 
source is only fifteen miles from that of the Euphrates, in the 
mountains of Armenia, and it runs nearly parallel with it, and 
but a short distance from it throughout its Avhole , course ; yet 
the prophecy says nothing of the Tigris. 

3. The literal drying up of the rivers takes place under the 
fourth vial, when power is given to the sun to scorch men with 
fire. Under this plague occur, beyond question, the scenes of 
drought and famine so graphically described by Joel, chapter 
1 : 14 - 20 ; and as one result of these, it is expressly stated that 
" the rivers of waters are dried up/' The Euphrates can 
hardly be an exception to this visitation of drought; hence 

49 



THE REVELATION 



not much would remain to be literally dried up under the sixth 
vial. 

These plagues, from the very nature of the case, must be 
manifestations of wrath and judgments upon men; but if the 
drying up of the literal Euphrates is all that is brought to 
view, this plague is not of such a nature, and turns out to 
be no serious affair, after all. 

These objections existing against considering it a literal 
river, it must be understood figuratively as symbolizing the 
power holding possession of the territory watered by that river, 
which is the Ottoman, or Turkish, empire. 

1. It is so used in other places in the Scriptures. (See 
Isa. 8:7; Rev. 9: 14.) In this latter text, all must concede 
that the Euphrates symbolizes the Turkish power; and being 
the first and only other occurrence of the word in the Revela- 
tion, it may well be considered as governing its use in this 
book. 

2. The drying up of the river in this sense would be the 
consumption of the Turkish empire, accompanied with more or 
less destruction of its subjects. Thus we should have literal 
judgments upon men as the result of this plague, as in the 
case of all the others. 

But it may be objected to this, that while contending for 
the literality of the plagues, we nevertheless make one of them 
a symbol. We answer, No. A power is introduced, it is true, 
under the sixth vial, in its symbolic form, just as it is under 
the fifth, where we read of the seat of the beast, which is a 
well-known symbol; or as we read again in the first plague of 
the mark of the beast, his image, and its worship, which are 
also symbols*. All that is here insisted upon, is the literality 
of the judgments that result from each vial, which are literal in 
this case as in all the others, though the organizations which 
suffer these judgments may be brought to view in their sym- 
bolic form. 

Again: It may be asked how the way of the kings of the 
East will be prepared by the drying up, or consumption, of 
the Ottoman power ? The answer is obvious. For what is the 
way of these kings to be prepared ? Answer : To come up to 



CHAPTER 16, VERSES 12 - 16 



777 



the battle of the great day of God Almighty. Where is the 
battle to be fought ? — Hear Jerusalem. ( Joel and Zepha- 
niah.) But Jerusalem is in the hands of the Turks; they 
hold possession of the land of Palestine and the sacred sepul- 
chers. This is the bone of contention; on these the nations 
have fixed their covetous and jealous eyes. But though Turkey 
now possesses them, and others want them, it is nevertheless 
thought necessary to the tranquillity of Europe that Turkey 
should be maintained in her position, in order to preserve what 
is called the " balance of power." For this the Christian na- 
tions of Europe have co-operated to sustain the integrity of 
the sultan's throne, because they cannot agree as to the division 
of the spoils, when Turkey falls. By their sufferance alone 
that government now exists, and when they shall withdraw 
their support, and leave it to itself, as they will do under 
the sixth plague, that symbolic river will be wholly dried up; 
Turkey will be no more, and the way will be all open for the 
nations to make their last grand rally to the Holy Land. The 
kings of the East, the nationalities, powers, and kingdoms 
lying east of Palestine, will act a conspicuous part in the mat- 
ter ; for Joel says in reference to this scene, " Let the heathen 
be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat." The 
millions of Mohammedans of Persia, Afghanistan, Toorkistan, 
and India will rush to the field of conquest in behalf of their 
religion. (See more about Turkey in Dan. 11:40-45.) 

Those who place five of the plagues in the past, and contend 
that we are now living under the sixth, urge, as one of their 
strongest arguments, the fact that the Turkish empire is now 
wasting away, and this takes place under the sixth vial. It is 
hardly necessary to reply, The event that takes place under the 
sixth vial is the entire and utter consumption of that power, 
not its preliminary state of decay, which is all that now ap- 
pears. It is necessary that the empire should for a time grow 
weak and powerless, in order to its utter dissolution when the 
plague shall come. This preliminary condition is now seen, 
and the full end cannot be far in the future. 

Another event to be noticed under this plague is the issuing 
forth of the three unclean spirits to gather the nations to the 



778 



THE REVELATION 



great battle. The agency now already abroad in the world 
known as modern Spiritualism, is in every way a fitting means 
to be employed in this work. But it may be asked how a work 
which is already going on can be designated by that expression, 
when the spirits are not introduced into the prophecy until the 
pouring out of the sixth plague, which is still future. We 
answer that in this, as in many other movements, the agencies 
which Heaven designs to employ in the accomplishment of cer- 
tain ends, go through a process of preliminary training for the 
part which they are to act. Thus, before the spirits can have 
such absolute authority over the race as to gather them to 
battle against the King of kings and Lord of lords, they must 
first win their way among the nations of the earth, and cause 
their teaching to be received as of divine authority and their 
word as law. This work they are now doing; and when they 
shall have once gained full influence over the nations in ques- 
tion, what fitter instrument could be employed to gather them 
to so rash and hopeless an enterprise ? 

To many it may seem incredible that the nations should be 
willing to engage in such an unequal warfare as to go up to 
battle against the Lord of hosts ; but it is one province of these 
spirits of devils to deceive, for they go forth working miracles, 
and thereby deceive the kings of the earth, that they should 
believe a lie. 

The sources from which these spirits issue, denote that they 
will work among three great religious divisions of mankind, 
represented by the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet, 
or Paganism, Catholicism, and Protestantism. 

But what is the force of the caution thrown out in verse 
15 ? Probation must have closed, and Christ have left his 
mediatorial position, before the plagues begin to fall. And is 
there danger of falling after that ? It will be noticed that this 
warning is spoken in connection with the working of the spirits. 
The inference therefore is, that it is retroactive, applying from 
the time these spirits begin to work to the close of probation; 
that by an interchange of tenses common to the Greek lan- 
guage, the present tense is put for the past ; as if it had read, 
Blessed is he that hath watched and kept his garments, as the 



CHAPTER 16, VERSES 12 - 16 



779 



shame and nakedness of all who have not done this will at 
this time especially appear. 

"And he gathered them." Who are the ones here spoken 
of as " gathered/ 7 and what agency is to be nsecl in gathering 
them ? If the word them refers to the kings of verse 14 it is 
certain that no good agency wonld be made use of to gather 
them ; and if the spirits are referred to by the word he, why is 
it in the singular number ? The peculiarity of this construc- 
tion has led some to read the passage thus : "And he [Christ] 
gathered them [the saints] into a place called in the Hebrew 
tongue Armageddon [the illustrious city, or New Jerusalem]." 
But this position is untenable. The following criticism, which 
appeared not long since in a religious magazine, seems to shed 
the true light upon this passage. The writer says : — 

" It seems to me that verse 16 is a continuation of verse 
14, and that the antecedent of cvtovs [them] is ' the kings ' 
mentioned in verse 14. For this latter verse says, ' Which go 
forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to 
gather them/ etc., and in verse. 16 it says, 'And he gathered 
them/ Now in the Greek, ' a neuter plural regularly takes a 
verb in the singular.' (See Sophocles' s Greek Grammar, 
sec. 151, 1.) Might not, therefore, the subject of the verb 
awrjyayev [gathered] (verse 16) be ra 7rvevfxara [the spirits] 
of verse 14, and thus the ' gathering ' mentioned in the two 
verses be one and the same? 

"And if this is to be a gathering of ' the kings of the earth 
and of the whole world,' will it not be for the purpose men- 
tioned in the text ; namely, 6 to gather them to the battle of 
that great day of God Almighty' 1 " 

In accordance with this criticism, several translations use 
the plural instead of the singular pronoun. 

Mr. W T akefield, in his translation of the New Testament, 
renders this verse thus: "And the spirits gathered the kings 
together at a place called in Hebrew Armageddon." 

The Syriac Testament reads: "And they collected them 
together in a place called in Hebrew Armageddon." 

Sawyer's translation renders it : "And they assembled them 
in the place called in Hebrew Armageddon." 



780 



THE REVELATION 



Mr. Wesley's version of the New Testament reads: "And 
they gathered them together to the place which is called in 
the Hebrew Armageddon." 

Whiting's translation gives it: "And they gathered them 
into a place called in Hebrew Armageddon." 

Professor Stuart, of Andover College, a distinguished critic, 
though not a translator of the Scriptures, renders it: "And 
they gathered them together," etc. De Wette, a German 
translator of the Bible, gives it the same turn as Stuart and 
the others. 

Mr. Albert Barnes, whose notes on the ~New Testament 
are so extensively used, refers to the same grammatical law as 
suggested by the criticism above quoted, and says, " The au- 
thority of De Wette and Professor Stuart is sufficient to show 
that the construction which they adopt is authorized by the 
Greek, as indeed no one can doubt, and perhaps this construc- 
tion accords better with the context than any other construction 
proposed." Thus it will be seen that there are weighty reasons 
for reading the text, " They gathered them together," etc., in- 
stead of " he gathered." And by these authorities it is shown 
that the persons gathered are the minions of Satan, not saints ; 
that it is the work of the spirits, not of Christ ; and that the 
place of assemblage is not in the New Jerusalem at the mar- 
riage supper of the Lamb, but at Armageddon (or Mount Me- 
giddo), " at the battle of that great day of God Almighty." 

The -hills of Megiddo, overlooking the plain of Esdraelon, 
was the place where Barak and Deborah destroyed Sisera's 
army, and where Josiah was routed by the Egyptian king 
Pkaraoh-Necho. 

Verse 17. And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; 
and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the 
throne, saying, It is done. 18. And there were voices, and thunders, 
and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not 
since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so 
great. 19. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the 
cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance 
before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of 
his wrath. 20. And every island fled away, and the mountains were 
not found. 21. And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, 



CHAPTER 16, VERSES 17 - 21 



T83 



every stone about the weight of a talent : and men blasphemed God 
because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceed- 
ing great. 

The Seventh Plague. — Thus has Inspiration described the 
last judgment which is to be inflicted in the present condition 
of things upon those who are incorrigibly rebellious against 
God. Some of the plagues are local in their application ; but 
this one is poured out into the air. The air envelops the 
whole earth; it follows that this plague will envelop equally 
the habitable globe. It will be universal. The very air will 
be deadly. 

The gathering of the nations having taken place under the 
sixth vial, the battle remains to be fought under the seventh; 
and here are brought to view the instrumentalities with which 
God will slay the wicked. At this time it may be said, " The 
Lord hath opened his armory, and hath brought forth the 
weapons of his indignation." 

" There were voices." Above all will be heard the voice 
of God. " The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his 
voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth shall 
shake ; but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the 
strength of the children of Israel." Joel 3:16. (See also 
Jer. 25:30; Heb. 12:26.) This will cause the great earth- 
quake, such as was not since men were upon the earth. 

"And thunders and lightnings " — another allusion to the 
judgments of Egypt. (See Ex. 9:23.) The great city is 
divided into three parts; that is, the three grand divisions of 
the false and apostate religions of the world (the great city), 
Paganism, Catholicism, and relapsed Protestantism, seem to be 
set apart each to receive its appropriate doom. The cities of 
the nations fall ; universal desolation spreads over the earth ; 
every island flees away, and the mountains are not found ; and 
great Babylon comes in remembrance before God. Read her 
judgments, as more fully described in chapter 18. 

"And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven." 
This is the last instrumentality used in the infliction of punish- 
ment upon the wicked, — the bitter dregs of the seventh vial. 
God has solemnly addressed the wicked, saying, " Judgment 



784 



THE REVELATION 



also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet; 
and the hail shall sweep away the refnge of lies, and the waters 
shall overflow the hiding-place." Isa. 28: 17. (See also Isa. 
30:30.) And he asks Job if he has seen the treasures of 
the hail, which he has " reserved against the time of trouble, 
against the day of battle and war." Job 38 : 22, 23. 

" Every stone about the weight of a talent." A talent, 
according to various authorities, as a weight, is about fifty- 
seven pounds avoirdupois. What could withstand the force of 
stones of such an enormous weight falling from heaven ? But 
mankind, at this time, will have no shelter. The cities have 
fallen in a mighty earthquake, the islands have fled away, and 
the mountains are not found. Again the wicked give vent to 
their woe in blasphemy ; for the plague of the hail is " ex- 
ceeding great." 

Some faint idea of the terrible effect of such a scene as is 
here predicted, may be inferred from the following sketch of a 
hailstorm on the Bosporus, by our countryman, the late Com- 
modore Porter, in his Letters from Constantinople and its 
Environs, Vol. I, p. 44. He says: — 

" We had got perhaps a mile and a half on our way, when 
a cloud rising in the west gave indications of approaching rain. 
In a few minutes we discovered something falling from the 
heavens with a heavy splash, and with a whitish appearance. 
I could not conceive what it was, but observing some gulls 
near, I supposed it to be them darting for fish, but soon 
after discovered that they were large balls of ice falling. 
Immediately we heard a sound like rumbling thunder, or ten 
thousand carriages rolling furiously over the pavement. The 
whole Bosporus was in a foam, as though heaven's artillery 
had been charged upon us and our frail machine. Our fate 
seemed inevitable ; our umbrellas were raised to protect us, but 
the lumps of ice stripped them into ribbons. We fortunately 
had a bullock's hide in the boat, under which we crawled, and 
saved ourselves from further injury. One man of the three 
oarsman had his hand literally smashed ; another was much 
injured in the shoulder; Mr. H. received a blow in the leg; 



CHAPTER 16, YEESES 17-21 



785 



my right hand was somewhat disabled, and all were more or 
less injured. 

" It was the most awful and terrific scene jl ever witnessed, 
and God forbid that I should ever be exposed to another ! 
Balls of ice as large as my two fists fell into the boat, and 
some of them fell with such violence as certainly to have 
broken an arm or leg had they struck us in those parts. One 
of them struck the blade of an oar, and split it. The scene 
lasted perhaps five minutes ; but it was five minutes of the 
most awful feelings I ever experienced. When it passed over, 
we found the surrounding hills covered with masses of ice, I 
cannot call it hail, the trees stripped of their leaves and limbs, 
and everything looking desolate. The scene was awful beyond 
all description. 

" I have witnessed repeated earthquakes ; the lightning has 
played, as it were, about my head ; the wind has roared, and 
the waves at one moment have thrown me to the sky, and the 
next have sunk me into a deep abyss. I have been in action, 
and have seen death and destruction around me in every shape 
of horror ; but I never before had the feeling of awe which 
seized me on this occasion, and still haunts, and I fear forever 
will haunt me. My porter, the boldest of my family, who 
had ventured an instant from the door, had been knocked 
down by a hailstone, and had they not dragged him in by the 
heels, would have been battered to death. Two boatmen were 
killed in the upper part of the village, and I have heard of 
broken bones in abundance. Imagine to yourself the heavens 
suddenly frozen over, and as suddenly broken to pieces in 
irregular masses of from half a pound to a pound weight, 
and precipitated to the earth." 

Reader, if such were the desolating effects of a hail-storm 
of ice, which discharged stones the size of a man's fist, weigh- 
ing at most a pound or so, who can depict the consequences 
of that coming storm in which " every stoxe " shall be of 
the weight of a talent ? As surely as God's word is truth, he 
is thus soon to punish a guilty world. May it be ours, accord- 
ing to the promise, to have " sure dwellings " and " quiet rest- 
ing-places " in that terrific hour. Isa. 32 : 18 ; 19, 1 



786 



THE REVELATION 



"And there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, 
from the throne, saying, It is done ! " Thns all is finished. 
The cnp of human guilt has been filled np. The last soul has 
availed itself of the plan of salvation. The hooks are closed. 
The number of the saved is completed. The final period is 
placed to this world's history. The vials of God's wrath are 
poured out upon a corrupt generation. The wicked have 
drunk them to the dregs, and sunk into the realm of death 
for a thousand years. Reader, where do you wish to be 
found after that great decision ? 

But what is the condition of the saints while the " over- 
flowing scourge " is passing over ? They are the special sub- 
jects of God's protection, without whose notice not a sparrow 
falls to the ground. Many are the promises which come crowd- 
ing in to afford them comfort, summarily contained in the 
beautiful and expressive language of the 91st psalm, which 
alone we have space to quote: — 

" I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress ; 
my God, in him will I trust. Surely *he shall deliver thee 
from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. 
Tie shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt 
thou trust; his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou 
shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow 
that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in dark- 
ness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A 
thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right 
hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes 
shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because 
thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most 
High, thy habitation, there shall no evil befall thee, neither 
shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling." Ps. 91 : 2 - 10. 




Verse 1. And there came one of the seven angels which had the 
seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come thither ; I will 
show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon 
many waters : 2. With whom the kings of the earth have committed 
fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk 
with the wine of her fornication. 3. So he carried me away in the 
spirit into the wilderness : and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet 
colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten 
horns. 4. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, 
and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden 
cup in her hand full of abominations and ulthiness of her fornication : 
5. And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABY- 
LON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS, AND ABOM- 
INATIONS OF THE EARTH. 

IN" verse 19 of the preceding chapter, we were informed that 
" great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give 
nnto her the cnp of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath." 
The prophet now takes up more particularly the snbject of this 
great Babylon; and in order to give a full presentation of it, 
goes back and gives lis some of the facts of her past history. 
That this apostate woman, as presented in this chapter, is a 
symbol of the Roman Catholic Church, is generally believed 
by Protestants. Between this church and the kings of the 
earth there has been illicit connection, and with the wine of 
her fornication, or her false doctrines, the inhabitants of the 
earth have been made drunk. 

Church and State. — This prophecy is more definite than 
others applicable to the Roman power, in that it distinguishes 
between church and state. We here have the woman, the 

(787) 



788 



THE REVELATION 



church, seated upon a scarlet-colored beast, the civil power, 
by which she is upheld, and which she controls and guides to 
her own ends, as a rider controls the animal upon which he 
is seated. 

The vesture and decorations of this woman, as brought to 
view in verse 4, are in striking harmony with the application 
made of this symbol; for purple and scarlet are the chief 
colors in the robes of popes and cardinals; and among the 
myriads of precious stones which adorn her service, according 
to an eye-witness, silver is scarcely known, and gold itself 
looks but poorly. And from the golden cup in her hand, — 
symbol of purity of doctrine and profession, which should 
have contained only that which is unadulterated and pure, or, 
explaining the figure, only that which is in full accordance 
with truth, — there came forth only abominations, and wine 
of her fornication, fit symbol of her abominable doctrines and 
still more abominable practices. 

This "woman is explicitly called Babylon. Is Rome, then, 
Babylon, to the exclusion of all other religious bodies ? — No, 
from the fact that she is called the mother of harlots, as already 
noticed, which shows that there are other independent religious 
organizations that constitute the apostate daughters, and belong 
to the same great family. 

Verse 6. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the 
saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus : and when I saw 
her, I wondered with great admiration. 7. And the angel said unto 
me, Wherefore didst thou marvel ? I will tell thee the mystery of the 
woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads 
and ten horns. 

A Cause of Wonder. — Why should John wonder with 
great astonishment when he saw the woman drunken with the 
blood of saints ? Was persecution of the people of God any 
strange thing in his day? Had he not seen Rome launch its 
most fiery anathemas against the church, himself being in ban- 
ishment under its cruel power at the time he wrote? Why, 
then, should he be astonished, as he looked forward, and saw 
Rome still persecuting the saints ? The secret of his wonder 
was just this; all the persecution he had witnessed had been 



i 



CHAPTER 11, VERSES 6 - 11 



7S9 



from pagan Rome, the open enemy of Christ. It was not 
strange that pagans should }:>ersecute Christ's followers ; hut 
when he looked forward, and saw a church professedly Chris- 
tian persecuting the followers of the Lamb, and drunken with 
their blood, he could but wonder with great amazement. 

Verse 8. The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall 
ascend out of the bottomless pit", and go into perdition : and they that 
dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the 
book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the 
beast that was, and is not, and yet is. 9. And here is the mind which 
hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the 
woman sitteth. 10. And there are seven kings : five are fallen, and 
one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must 
continue a short space. 11. And the beast that was, and is not, even 
he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. 

Rome in Three Phases. — The beast of which the angel 
here speaks is evidently the scarlet beast. A wild beast, like 
the one thus introduced, is the symbol of an oppressive and 
persecuting power; and while the Roman power as a nation 
had a long, uninterrupted existence, it passed through certain 
phases during which this symbol would be applicable to it, 
and during which time, consequently, the beast, in such proph- 
ecies as the present, might be said not to be, or not to exist. 
Thus Rome in its pagan form was a persecuting power in its 
relation to the people of God, during which time it constituted 
the beast that was ; but the empire was nominally converted to 
Christianity; there was a transition from paganism to another 
phase of religion falsely called Christian ; and during a brief 
period, while this transition was going on, it lost its ferocious 
and persecuting character, and then it could be said of the 
beast that it was not. Time passed on, and it degenerated 
into popery, and again assumed its bloodthirsty and oppressive 
character, and then it constituted the beast that " yet is," or 
in John's day was to be. 

The Seven Heads. — The seven heads are explained to be, 
first, seven mountains, and then seven kings, or forms of gov- 
ernment ; for the expression in verse 10, "And there are seven 
kings," should read, and these are seven. kings. "Five are 
fallen/' says the angel, or passed away ; " one is ; " the sixth 



790 



THE REVELATION 



was then reigning; another was to come, and continue for a 
short space ; and when the beast reappeared in its bloody and 
persecuting character, it was to be under the eighth form of 
government, which was to continue till the beast went into 
perdition. The seven forms of government that have existed 
in the Roman empire are usually enumerated as follows: (1) 
kingly; (2) consular; (3) decemvirate; (4) dictatorial; (5); 
triumvirate; (6) imperial; and (7) papal. Kings, consuls, de- 
decemvirs, dictators, and triumvirs had passed away in John's 
day. He was living under the imperial form. Two more were 
to arise after his time. One was only to continue a short space, 
and* hence is not usually reckoned among the heads; while the 
last, which is usually denominated the seventh, is in reality the 
eighth. The head which was to succeed the imperial, and con- 
tinue a short space, could not be the papal ; for that has con- 
tinued longer than all the rest put together. We understand, 
therefore, that the papal head is the eighth, and that a head 
of short continuance intervened between the imperial and papal. 
In fulfilment of this, we read that after the imperial form had 
been abolished, there was a ruler who for about the space of 
sixty years governed Rome under the title of the " Exarch of 
Ravenna." Thus we have the connecting link between the im- 
perial and papal heads. The third phase of the beast that was, 
and is not, and yet is, is the Roman power under the rule of 
the papacy; and in this form it ascends out of the bottomless 
pit, or bases its power on pretensions which have no foundation 
but a mixture of Christian errors and pagan superstitions. 

Verse 12. And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, 
which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings 
one hour with the beast. 13. These have one mind, and shall give 
their power and strength unto the beast. 14. These shall make war 
with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them : for he is Lord 
of lords, and King of kings ; and they that are with him are called, 
and chosen, and faithful. 

The Ten Horns. — On this subject, see remarks on Dan. 
7:7, where they are shown to represent the ten kingdoms 
that arose out of the Roman empire. They receive power 
one hour (Gr. <Zpa, hora, an indefinite space of time) with the 



CHAPTER 11, VERSES 12 - 18 



791 



beast; that is, they reign a length of time contemporaneously 
with the beast, during which time they give to it their power 
and strength. 

Croly, in his work on the Apocalypse, offers this comment 
on verse 12 : " The prediction defines the epoch of the papacy 
by the formation of the ten kingdoms of the Western empire. 
' They shall receive power one hour with the beast.' The 
translation should be, i in the same era ' ( fxtav wpav ) . The 
ten kingdoms shall be contemporaneous, in contradistinction 
to the ' seven heads,' which were successive/' 

This language must refer to the past, when the kingdoms 
of Europe were unanimous in giving their support to the pa- 
pacy, and upholding it in all its pretensions. It cannot apply 
to the future ; for after the commencement of the time of the 
end, they were to take away its dominion to consume and to 
destroy it unto the end (Dan. 7: 26) ; and the treatment which 
these kingdoms are finally to bestow upon the papacy, is ex- 
pressed in verse 16, where it is said that they shall hate the 
harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh, and burn 
her with fire. A part of this work the nations of Europe have 
been doing for years. The completion of it, burning her with 
fire, will be accomplished when Rev. 18:8 is fulfilled. 

These make war with the Lamb. Verse 14. Here we are 
carried into the future, to the time of the great and final battle ; 
for at this time the Lamb has assumed the title of King of 
king and Lord of lords, a title which he does not assume till 
his second coming. Chapter 19 : 11 - 16. 

Verse 15. And he saith unto me. The waters which thou sawest, 
where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and 
tongues. 16. And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, 
these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, 
and shall eat her flesh and burn her with fire. 17. For God hath put 
in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom 
unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. 18. And the 
woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the 
kings of the earth. 

An Important Symbol Defined. — In verse 15 we have a 
plain definition of the Scripture symbol of waters; they de- 
note peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. The angel told 
50 



t92 



THE REVELATION 



John, while calling his attention to this subject, that he would 
show him the judgment of this great harlot. In verse 16 that 
judgment is specified. This chapter has, naturally, more es- 
pecial reference to the old mother, or Catholic Babylon. The 
next chapter, if we mistake not, deals with the character 
and destiny of another great branch of Babylon, the harlot 
daughters. 




THE MESSAGE OF REV. 18:1. 



Verse 1. And after these things I saw another angel come down 
from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with 
his glory. 2. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, 
Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of 
devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean 
and hateful bird. 3. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the 
wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committsd 
fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich 
through the abundance of her delicacies. 

SOME movement of mighty power is symbolized in these 
verses. (See under verse 4.) The consideration of a 
few facts will guide us unmistakably to the application. 
In chapter 14 we had a message announcing the fall of Baby- 
lon. Babylon is a term which embraces not only the Roman 
Catholic Church, but religious bodies which have sprung from 
her, bringing many of her errors and traditions along with 
them. 

A Moral Fall. — The fall of Babylon here spoken of can 
not be literal destruction ; for there are events to take place in 
Babylon after her fall which utterly forbid this idea; as, for 
instance, the peeople of God are there after her fall, and are 
called out in order. that they may not receive of her plagues; 
and in these plagues is embraced her literal destructiom The 
fall is therefore a moral one ; for the result of it is that Baby- 
lon becomes the habitation of devils, and the hold of every 
foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. 
These are terrible descriptions of apostasy, showing that, as a 

(795) 



796 



THE REVELATION 



consequence of her fall, she piles up an accumulation of sins 
even to the heavens, and becomes subject to the judgments of 
God, which can no longer be delayed. 

And since the fall here introduced is a moral one, it must 
apply to some branch of Babylon besides, or outside of, the 
pagan or papal divisions ; for from the beginning of their his- 
tory, paganism has been a false religion, and the papacy an 
apostate one. And further, as this fall is said to occur but a 
short period before Babylon's final destruction, certainly this 
side of the rise and predicted triumph of the papal church, this 
testimony cannot apply to any religious organizations but such 
as have sprung from that church. These started out on reform. 
They ran well for a season, and had the approbation of God; 
but fencing themselves about with creeds, they have failed to 
keep pace with the advancing light of prophetic truth, and 
hence have been left in a position where they will finally de- 
velop a character as evil and odious in the sight of God as 
that of the church from which they first withdrew as dissenters, 
or reformers. As the point before us is to many a very sensi- 
tive one, we will let members of these various denominations 
here speak for themselves. 

The Tennessee Baptist says : " This woman [popery] is 
called the mother of harlots and abominations. Who are the 
daughters ? The Lutheran, the Presbyterian, and the Episco- 
palian churches are all branches of the [Roman] Catholic. 
Are not these denominated ' harlots and abominations ' in the 
above passage ? — I so decide. I could not, with the stake 
before me, decide otherwise. Presbyterians and Episcopalians 
compose a part of Babylon. They hold the distinctive prin- 
ciples of papacy in common with papists.'' 

Alexander Campbell says : " The worshiping establish- 
ments now in operation throughout Christendom, incased and 
cemented by their respective voluminous confessions of faith, 
and their ecclesiastical constitutions, are not churches of Jesus 
Christ, but the legitimate daughters of that mother of harlots, 
the Church of Rome." 

Again he says: "A reformation of popery was attempted 
in Europe full three centuries ago. It ended in a Protestant 



CHAPTER 18, VERSES 1 - 3 



797 



hierarchy, and swarms of dissenters. Protestantism has been 
reformed into Presbyterianism, that into Congregationalism, 
and that into Baptistism, etc., etc. Methodism has attempted 
to reform all, but has reformed itself into many forms of 
TTesleyanism. All of them retain in their bosom — in their 
ecclesiastical organizations, worship, doctrines, and observances 
— ■ various relics of popery. They are at best a reformation 
of popery, and only reformations in part. The doctrines and 
traditions of men yet impair the power and progress of the 
gospel in their hands." — On Baptism, p. 15. 

Mr. O. Scott (Wesleyan Methodist) says: "The church is 
as deeply infected with a desire for worldly gain as the world. 

" The churches are making a god of this world. 

" Most of the denominations of the present day might be 
called churches of the world with more propriety than churches 
of Christ. 

" The churches are so far gone from primitive Christianity 
that they need a fresh regeneration, a new kind of religion.'' 

Says the Golden Ride: "The Protestants are outdoing 
the popes in splendid, extravagant folly in church-building. 
Thousands on thousands are expended in gay and costly orna- 
ments to gratify pride and a wicked ambition, that might and 
should go to redeem the perishing millions ! Does the evil, 
the folly, and the madness of these proud, formal, fashionable 
worshipers stop here ? 

" These splendid monuments of popish pride, upon which 
millions are squandered in our cities, virtually exclude the poor, 
for whom Christ died, and for whom he came especially to 
preach." 

The report of the Michigan Yearly Conference, published 
in the True Wesleyan of Nov. 15, 1851, says: "The world, 
commercial, political, and ecclesiastical, are alike, and are 
together going in the broad way that leads to death. Politics, 
commerce, and nominal religion, all connive at sin, reciprocally 
aid each other, and unite to crush the poor. Falsehood is 
unbln shingly uttered in the forum and in the pulpit ; and sins 
that woidd shock the moral sensibilities of the heathen go un- 
rebuked in all the great denominations of our land. These 



V98 



THE REVELATION 



churches are like the Jewish church when the Saviour ex- 
claimed, ' Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites.' " 
Is their condition any better now than it was then ? 

Robert Atkins, in a sermon preached in London, says: 
" The truly righteous are diminished from the earth, and no 
man layeth it to heart. The professors of religion of the pres- 
ent day, in every church, are lovers of the world, conformers 
to the world, lovers of creature-comfort, and aspirers after 
respectability. They are called to suffer with Christ, but they 
shrink even from reproach. 

" Apostasy, apostasy, apostasy, is engraven on the very 
front of every church; and did they know it, and did they 
feel it, there might be hope, but alas ! they cry, ' We are rich, 
and increased with goods, and have need of nothing.' " 

G. F. Pentecost, the noted evangelist, said in the Inde- 
pendent, in February, 1883, that the conversion of sinners 
was becoming " a lost art." 

Abundance of similar testimony might be produced from 
persons in high standing in these various denominations, writ- 
ten, not for the purpose of being captious and finding fault, 
but from a vivid sense of the fearful condition to which these 
churches have fallen. The term Babylon, as applied to them, 
is not a term of reproach, but is simply expressive of the con- 
fusion and diversity of sentiment that exists among them. 
Babylon need not have fallen, but might have been healed 
(Jer. 51: 9) by the reception of the truth; but she rejected it, 
and confusion and dissensions still reign within her borders, 
and worldliness and pride are fast choking out every plant of 
heavenly growth. 

Chronology of This Movement. — At what time do these 
verses have their application 1 When may this movement be 
looked for ? If the position here taken is correct, that these 
churches, this branch of Babylon, experienced a- moral fall 
by the rejection -of the first message of chapter 14, the an- 
nouncement in the chapter under consideration could not have 
gone forth previous to that time. It is, then, either synchro- 
nous with the message of the fall of Babylon, in chapter 14, 
or it is given at a later period than that. But it cannot be 



CHAPTER 18, VERSES 1 - 3 



799 



synonymous with that ; for that merely announces the fall of 
Babylon, while this adds several particulars which at that time 
were neither fulfilled nor in process of fulfilment. As we are 
therefore to look this side of 1844, where the previous message 
went forth, for the announcement brought to view in this chap- 
ter, we inquire, Has any such message been given from that 
time to the present ? The answer must still be in the negative ; 
hence this message is yet future. But Ave are now having the 
third angel's message, which is the last to be given before the 
coming of the Son of man. ATe are therefore held to the con- 
clusion that the first two verses of this chapter constitute a 
feature of the third message which is to appear when this 
message shall be proclaimed with power, and the whole earth 
be lightened with its glory. 

The work brought to view in verse 2 is in process of 
accomplishment, and will soon be completed, by the work of 
Spiritualism. What are called in Rev. 16 : 11 " spirits of 
devils, working miracles," are secretly but rapidly working 
their way into the religious denominations above referred to; 
for their creeds have been formulated under the influence of 
the wine (errors) of Babylon, one of which is that the spirits 
of our dead friends, conscious, intelligent, and active, are all 
about us ; and this renders such denominations unable to resist 
the approach of evil spirits who come to. them under the names 
and impersonations of their dead friends. 

A significant feature in the work of Spiritualism, just now, 
is the religious garb it is assuming. Keeping in the back- 
ground its grosser principles, which it has heretofore carried 
so largely in the front, it now assumes to appear as respectably 
religious in some quarters as any other denomination in the 
land. It talks of sin, repentance, the atonement, salvation 
through Christ, etc., almost as orthodoxly as the most approved 
standards. Under the guise of this profession, what is to hin- 
der it from intrenching itself in almost every denomination in 
Christendom ? The basis of Spiritualism is a fundamental 
dogma in the creeds of almost all the churches. Its secret 
principles are, alas ! too commonly cherished, and its dark 
practices too commonly followed, to put them at variance on 



800 



THE REVELATION 



that ground, so long as they seek a common concealment. 
What, then, can save Christendom from its seductive influence ? 
Herein is seen another sad result of rejecting the truths offered 
to the world by the messages of chapter 14. Had the churches 
received these messages, they would have been shielded against 
this delusion; for among the great truths developed by the 
religious movement there brought to view, is the important 
doctrine that the soul of man is not naturally immortal ; that 
eternal life is a gift suspended on conditions, and to be acquired 
through Christ alone ; that the dead are unconscious ; and that 
the rewards and punishments of the future world lie beyond 
the resurrection and the day of judgment. This strikes a 
death-blow to the first and vital claim of Spiritualism. What 
foothold can that doctrine secure in any mind fortified by this 
truth ? The spirit comes, and claims to be the disembodied 
soul, or spirit, of a dead man. It is met with the fact that 
that is not the kind of soul, or spirit, which man possesses; 
that the " dead know not anything;" that this, its first pre- 
tension, is a lie, and that the credentials it offers, show it to 
belong to the synagogue of Satan. Thus it is at once rejected, 
and the evil it would do is effectually prevented. But the 
great mass of religionists stand opposed to the truth which 
would thus shield them, and thereby expose themselves to this 
last manifestation of Satanic cunning. 

And while Spiritualism is thus working, startling changes 
are manifesting themselves in high places in some of the denom- 
inations. The infidelity of the present age, under the seductive 
names of " science," " the higher criticism," evolution," etc., 
is making not a few notable converts. As typical cases, we 
may mention such men as the late Henry Ward Beecher, and 
such papers as The Outlook, formerly the Christian Union. 
Mr. Beecher was considered a leader of thought in the religious 
world, and his fame and influence were not confined to one hem- 
isphere. He became very outspoken in his denial of doctrines 
which have been considered by all believers in the Bible as 
among the fundamental truths of revelation. As an illustra- 
tion, we quote the following from the National Baptist of 
Sept. 6, 1883. It is from a reply by Mr. Beecher to J. S. 



CHAPTER 18, VERSES 1 - 3 



801 



Kennard, D. D., who had criticised some of Mr. B.'s views 
and utterances. He says: — 

" I am a cordial Christian evolutionist. I do not agree, by 
any means, with all of Spencer, — his agnosticism, — nor all of 
Huxley, Tyndall, and their school. They are agnostic ; I am 
not, emphatically. But I am an evolutionist; and that strikes 
at the root of all medieval and orthodox modern theology, — 
the fall of man in Adam, and the inheritance by his posterity 
of his guilt, and, by consequence, any such view of atonement 
as has been constructed to meet this fabulous disaster. Men 
have not fallen as a race ; men have come up. No great disas- 
ter met the race at the start. The creative decree of God was 
fulfilled, and any theory of atonement must be one which shall 
meet the fact that man was created at the lowest point, and, as 
I believe, is, as to his physical being, evolved from the animal 
race below him; but as to his moral and spiritual nature, is a 
son of God, a new element having come in, in the great move- 
ment of evolution, at the point of man's appearance. 7 ' 

When the great facts which alone account for the existence 
of sin in our world, and for all the anomalies of the present 
state, are denominated " a fabulous disaster ; " when it is 
avowed that man has not fallen, that the race did not meet 
the disaster of the introduction of sin by disobedience in the 
beginning, and that no atonement to meet this state of things 
is necessary, — what becomes of all those portions of the Scrip- 
tures in which these facts are recorded, and by which they are 
recognized ? They must be relegated to the realm of fable. 
And when professed ministers of the gospel, to whom the people 
look for instruction, and on whose views they depend in these 
matters, lead out with such teaching, what reverence for the 
word of God can be expected from the masses ? " Like priest, 
like people." Such ministers are doing more for the cause of 
infidelity than all the Yoltaires and Paines of a past age have 
done, or all the Ingersolls of the present age are doing. Worse 
than wolves without the fold, they are wolves within it, and all 
the more dangerous because arrayed in sheep's clothing. 

Others in high positions, the influential journals in the 
Christian world, speak in a similar strain. It has come to be 



802 



THE REVELATION 



a very* easy thing to accuse the record of inaccuracy, and charge 
the sacred writers with a failure to comprehend their subjects. 
Much of the body of modern dogmatic theology may be classi- 
fied under two heads, — funguses and fossils ; and whatever 
declarations of Scripture do not agree with these conceptions, 
are set down as incorrect. . Paul, they say, held erroneous 
ideas on a number of questions, more especially in reference to 
the second coming of Christ ; and one learned doctor of divinity, 
as quoted without dissent in a leading religious journal, has 
asserted that even Christ himself misapprehended the question 
he was discussing, according to the record of Matthew 24! 
From the standpoint of such a lamentable outlook, and under 
the leadership of such men, how long before Babylon will be- 
come full of spirits that are foul, and birds that are hateful 
and unclean ? What progress has already been made in this 
direction ! How would the godly fathers and mothers of the 
generation that lived just before the first message was given, 
could they rise from their graves, and comprehend the pres- 
ent condition of the religious world, hearing its teaching and 
beholding its practices, stand aghast at the fearful contrast 
between their time and ours, and deplore the sad degeneracy ! 
And Heaven is not to let all this pass in silence ; for a mighty 
proclamation is to be made, calling the attention of all the 
world to the fearful counts in the indictment against these 
unfaithful religious bodies, that the justice of the judgments 
that follow may plainly appear. 

Verse 3 shows the wide extent of the influence of Babylon, 
and the evil that has resulted and will result from her course, 
and hence the justness of her punishment. The merchants of 
—the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her deli- 
cacies. Who take the lead in all the extravagances of the age ? 
Who load their tables with the richest and choicest viands ? 
Who are foremost in extravagance in dress, and all costly 
attire ? Who are the very personification of pride and arro- 
gance ? — Are they not church-members ? Where shall we 
look for the very highest exhibition of the luxury, vain show, 
and pride of life, resulting from the vanity and sin of the 



CHAPTER 18, VERSES 1 - 8 



803 



race ? — Is it not to a modern church assembly on a pleasant 
Sunday ? 

But there is a redeeming feature in this picture. Degener- 
ate as Babylon has become as a body, there are exceptions to 
the general rule ; for God has still a people there, and she 
must be entitled to some regard on their account until they are 
called from her communion. Xor will it be necessary to wait 
long for this call. Soon Babylon will become so thoroughly 
leavened with the influence of these evil agents that her con- 
dition will be fully manifest to all the honest in heart, and 
the way be all prepared for the work which the apostle now 
introduces. 

Verse 4. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying', Come 
out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye 
receive not of her plagues. 5. For her sins have reached unto heaven, 
and God hath remembered her iniquities. 6. Reward her even as she 
rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works; 
in the cup which she hath filled, fill to her double. 7. How much she 
hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and 
sorrow give her; for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no 
widow, and shall see no sorrow. 8. Therefore shall her plagues come 
in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly 
burned with fire : for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. 

The voice coming from heaven denotes that it will be a 
message of power attended with heavenly glory. How marked 
becomes the interposition of Heaven, and how the agents for 
the accomplishment of God's work multiply, as the great crisis 
approaches ! This voice from heaven is called " another " 
voice, showing that a new agency is here introduced. We now 
have five celestial messengers expressly mentioned as engaged 
in this last religious reformation. These are the first, second, 
and third angels of chapter 14; fourth, the angel of verse one 
of this chapter ; and fifth, the agency indicated by the " voice " 
of verse 4, now before us. Three of these are already in 
operation. The second angel has joined the first, and the third 
has joined them. The first and second have not ceased. All 
three now have the field. The angel of verse 1 is entering 
upon his mission, as the conditions which call for his work are 
supplied; and the divine call from heaven must take place in 
connection with his work. 



804 



THE REVELATION 



Proof has already been offered to show that the message of 
verses 1 and 2 of this chapter is to be given in connection with 
the now current third message, and will mark a new era in this 
work. An idea of its extent and power may be gathered from 
the description of the angel there given. The first message is 
said to go with a " loud voice ; 77 the same is also said of the 
third message ; but this angel, instead of simply flying in the 
midst of heaven/ 7 like the others, is said to " come down from 
heaven. 77 He comes, as it. were, nearer to the earth, with a 
message more pointed and direct ; and he has " great power, 77 
and the earth is " lightened with his glory. 77 ~No such descrip- 
tion of a message from heaven to man is elsewhere to be found 
in all the Bible. This is the last; and as is meet, it comes 
with surpassing glory and unwonted power. It is an awful 
hour when a world 7 s destiny is to be decided, — a most solemn 
crisis when an entire contemporaneous generation of the hu- 
man family is to pass the bounds of probation, as the last note 
of mercy is sounded in their ears. In such a time, the world 
must not be left without warning. So amply must the great 
fact be heralded, that none can plead a reasonable ignorance 
of the impending doom. Every excuse must be taken away. 
The justice and long-suffering and forbearance of God in delay- 
ing threatened vengeance till all have had an opportunity to 
receive a knowledge of his will, and space to repent, must be 
vindicated. An angel is sent forth, panoplied with Heaven 7 s 
power. The light that encircles the throne enshrouds him. 
He comes to the earth. ISTone but the spiritually dead — yea, 
" twice dead, and plucked up by the roots 77 — would fail to 
realize his presence. Light flashes everywhere. The dark 
places are lighted up. And while his presence dispels the 
shadows, his voice in thunder tones utters a warning. He 
cries " mightily. 77 He speaks in no feeble tones, and with no 
uncertain sound. It is no parlor announcement, but a cry, a 
mighty cry, a cry with a strong voice. The fatal defects in the 
profession of a worldly church are again pointed out. Their 
errors are once more, and for the last time, exposed. The 
inadequacy of the present standard of godliness to meet the 
final crisis is emphasized beyond all mistaking. The inevitable 



CHAPTER 18, VERSES k~S 



805 



connection between their cherished errors and irretrievable and 
everlasting destruction is heralded till the earth resounds with 
the cry. Meanwhile, great Babylon's sins mount up to the 
heavens, and the remembrance of her iniquities comes up before 
God. The storm of vengeance gathers. The great tidal wave 
of supernal wrath rolls onward. The feathery foam plays 
along its crest, indicating that but an instant remains ere it 
will burst upon the great city of confusion, and proud Babylon 
will go down as a millstone sinks in the depths of the sea. 
Suddenly another voice rings out from heaven, " Come out of 
her, my people ! " The humble, sincere, devoted children of 
God, of whom there are some still left, and who sigh and cry 
over the abominations done in the land, heed the voice, wash 
their hands of her sins, separate from her communion, escape, 
and are saved, while Babylon becomes the victim of the just 
judgments of God. There are stirring times before the church. 
Let us be ready for the crisis. 

The fact that God's people are called out so as not to be 
partakers of her sins, shows that it is not till a certain time that 
people become guilty by being connected with Babylon ; and 
this explains how it can be said of the 144,000 (Rev. 14: 4), 
many of whom are the very ones here called out, that they were 
not defiled with women. 

Verses 6 and 7 are a prophetic declaration that she will be 
rewarded or punished according to her works. Bear in mind 
that this testimony applies to that portion of Babylon which is 
subject to a moral fall. As already pointed out, it must apply 
especially to the " daughters," the denominations who persist 
in clinging to the personal traits of the " mother," and keeping 
up the family resemblance. These, as pointed out on a pre- 
vious page, are to attempt a sweeping persecution against the 
truth and the people of God. By these the " image of the 
beast " is to be formed. These are to have what will be to 
them a new experience, — the use of the civil arm to enforce 
their dogmas. And it is doubtless this first intoxication of 
power that leads this branch of Babylon to cherish in her heart 
the boast, " I sit a queen, and am no widow ; " that is, I am 
no longer xvp a > " one bereaved," or destitute of power, as I 



806 



THE REVELATION 



have been ; but now I rule like a queen ; I shall see no sorrow ; 
God is in the Constitution ; the church is enthroned, and shall 
henceforth bear sway. The expression, " Reward her even as 
she rewarded you," seems to show that the time for this mes- 
sage to be given, and for the saints to be called out, will be 
when she begins to raise against them the arm of oppression. 
As she fills up the cup of persecution to the saints, so the angel 
of the Lord will persecute her (Ps. 35:6); and judgments 
from on high will bring upon her, in a twofold degree, the 
evil which she thought to bring upon the humble servants of 
the Lord. 

On page 137 of Spiritual Gifts, as found in Early Writings, 
by Mrs. E. G. White, we find testimony showing that the first 
part of Revelation 18 has special reference to the religious 
oppression to be developed in the United States by professed 
Christians. Thus : " It will be more tolerable for the heathen 
and for papists in the day of the execution of God's judgment 
than for such men. . . . The names of the oppressors are 
written in blood, crossed with stripes, and flooded with agoniz- 
ing, burning tears of suffering. God's anger will not cease 
until he has caused this land of light to drink to the dregs 
of the cup of his fury, until he has rewarded unto Babylon 
double. 6 Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double 
unto her double according to her works ; in the cup which 
she hath filled, fill to her double. 7 " 

The day in which her plagues come, mentioned in verse 8, 
must be a prophetic day, or at least cannot be a literal day; 
for it would be impossible for famine to come in that length of 
time. The plagues of Babylon are without doubt the seven 
last plagues, which have already been examined; and the plain 
inference from the language of this verse, in connection with 
Isa. 34 : 8, is that a year will be occupied in that terrible 
visitation. 

Verse 9.. And the kings of the earth, who have committed forni- 
cation and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for 
her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, 10. Standing afar 
off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Baby- 
lon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. 11. 
And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for 
no man buyeth their merchandise any more. 



CHAPTER 18, VERSE 8 9 - IS 



807 



A Fitting Retribution. — The infliction of the very first 
plague must result in a complete suspension of traffic in those 
articles of luxury for which Babylon is noted. And when the 
merchants of these things, who are to a great extent citizens 
of this symbolic city, and who have been made rich by their 
traffic in these things, suddenly find themselves and their 
neighbors smitten with putrefying sores, their traffic suspended, 
and vast stores of merchandise on hand, but none to buy them, 
they lift up their voices in lamentation for the fate of this great 
city ; for if there is anything which will draw from the men of 
this generation a sincere cry of distress, it is that which touches 
their treasures. And there is a fitness in this retribution. 
They who but a short time before had issued a decree that the 
saints of God should neither buy nor sell, now find themselves 
put under the same restriction by a far more effectual process. 

The question may arise how persons involved in the same 
calamity can stand afar off and lament, etc. ; but it must be 
remembered that this desolation is brought to view under a 
figure, and the figure is that of a city visited with destruction. 
Should calamity come upon a literal city, it would be natural 
for its inhabitants to flee from that city if they had oppor- 
tunity, and standing afar off, lament its fall; and just in pro- 
portion to their terror and amazement at the evil impending, 
would be the distance at which they would stand from their 
devoted city. Now the figure the apostle uses would not be 
complete without a feature of this kind ; and so he uses it, not 
to imply that people would literally flee from the symbolic city, 
which would be impossible, but to denote their terror and 
amazement at the descending judgments. 

Verse 12. The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious 
stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, 
and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner 
vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, 
13. And cinnamon, and odors, and ointments, and frankincense, and 
wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and 
horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men. 

Babylon s Merchandise. — In these verses we have an enu- 
meration of great Babylon's. merchandise, which includes every- 
51 



808 



THE REVELATION 



thing pertaining to luxurious living, pomp, and worldly display. 
All kinds of mercantile traffic are brought to view. The dec- 
laration concerning " slaves and souls of men " may pertain 
more particularly to the spiritual domain, and have reference 
to slavery of conscience by the creeds of these bodies, which 
in some cases is more oppressive than physical bondage. 

Verse 14. And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed 
from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed 
from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all. 

Gluttony Rebuked. — The fruits here mentioned are, ac- 
cording to the original, " autumnal fruits ; " and in this we 
find a prophecy that the " delicacies of the season," upon which 
the luxurious gormand so sets his pampered appetite, will be 
suddenly cut off. This, of course, is the work of the famine, 
which is the result of the fourth vial. Chapter 16:8. And 
we may be even now having a premonition of this destruction 
in the phylloxera of the vineyards, the " scales " and moths, 
and other recent enemies to vegetation. 

In this connection we can hardly forbear glancing at the 
general aspect of the times in respect to the remarkable phys- 
ical phenomena everywhere manifesting themselves, as they 
seem so plainly to indicate that all the courses of nature are 
disturbed, and that the earth itself is waxing old in anticipa- 
tion of the time when it shall vanish away. Within a few 
years' past, how many unnatural visitations of earthquake and 
fire, storm and flood, have wrought ruin in different localities, 
and awakened forebodings of fear in the hearts of men in 
general. Witness the Chicago fire, the Baltimore fire, the 
Toronto fire, and the destruction by earthquake and fire of San 
Francisco, Valparaiso, and Kingston; the floods of the Ohio, 
the Mississippi, and other Western rivers; the devastating 
floods of Europe; the famines of China and Russia and the 
plague in India; the cyclones and tidal waves, sweeping away 
the proudest works of man, and hurling thousands of human 
beings into untimely graves. 

Verse 15. The merchants of these things, which were made rich 
by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and 
wailing, 16. And saying, Alas, alas that great city, that was clothed 



CHAPTER 18, VERSE 8 15 - 2^ 



811 



in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and pre- 
cious stones, and pearls ! 17. For in one hour so great riches is come 
to naught. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and 
sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, 18. And cried 
when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like 
unto this great city! 19. And they cast dust on their heads, and 
cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein 
were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costli- 
ness! for in one hour is she made desolate. 

Emotions of the Wicked. — The reader can readily imagine 
the canse of this universal voice of mourning, lamentation, and 
woe. Imagine the plague of sores preying upon men, the rivers 
turned to blood, the sea like the blood of a dead man, the sun 
scorching men with fire, their traffic gone, and their silver and 
gold unable to deliver them, and we need not wonder at their 
exclamations of distress, nor that shipmasters and sailors 
join in the general wail. Very different is the emotion the 
saints are called upon to exercise, as the following testimony 
shows :— 

Verse 20. Eejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and 
prophets ; for God hath avenged you on her. 21. And a mighty angel 
took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, 
Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, 
and shall be found no more at all. 22. And the voice of harpers, 
and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more 
at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be 
found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard 
no more at all in thee; 23. And the light of a candle shall shine no 
more at all in thee ; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride 
shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the 
great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. 
24. And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and 
of all that were slain upon the earth. 

Emotions of the Righteous. — The apostles and prophets 
are here called upon to rejoice over great Babylon in her 
destruction, as it is in close connection with this destruction 
that they will all be delivered from the power of death and 
the grave by the first resurrection. 

Like a great millstone, Babylon sinks to rise no more. 
The various arts and crafts that have been employed in her 
midst, and have ministered to her desires, shall be practiced no 
more. The pompous music that has been employed in her 



812 



THE REVELATION 



imposing but formal and lifeless service, dies away forever. 
The scenes of festivity and gladness, when the bridegroom and 
the bride have been led before her altars, shall be witnessed 
no more. 

Her sorceries constitute her leading crime ; and sorcery is a 
practice which is involved in the Spiritualism of to-day. "And 
in her was found the blood " of " all that were slain upon the 
earth." From this it is evident that ever since the introduction 
of a false religion into the world, Babylon has existed. In her 
has been found, all along, opposition to the work of God, and 
persecution of his people. In reference to the guilt of the 
last generation, see on chapter 16:6. 




CHAPTEE XIX. 

Verse 1. And after these things I heard a great voice of much 
people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honor, 
and power, unto the Lord our God : 2. For true and righteous are his 
judgments; for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt 
the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his 
servants at her hand. 3. And again they said, Alleluia. And her 
smoke rose up forever and ever. 

CONTINUING the subject of chapter 18, the apostle here 
introduces the song of triumph which the redeemed 
saints strike up on victor harps, when they behold the 
complete destruction of that great system of opposition to God 
and his true worship comprehended in great Babylon. This 
destruction takes place, and this song is sung, in connection 
with the second coming of Christ at the commencement of the 
thousand years. 

Forever and Ever. — There can hut one query arise on this 
scripture, and that is how it can be said that her smoke rose 
up forever and ever. Does not this language imply eternity of 
suffering? Let it he remembered that this is borrowed lan- 
guage; and to gain a correct understanding of it, we must go 
back to its first introduction, and consider its import as there 
used. In Isaiah 34 will be found the language from which, 
in all probability, such expressions as these are borrowed. 
Under the figure of Idumea, a certain destruction is brought 
to view; and it is said of that land that its streams should be 

(813) 



814 THE REVELATION 

turned into pitch, its dust into brimstone, that it should become 
burning pitch, and not be quenched night nor day, but that its 
smoke should go up forever. Now this language is spoken, as 
all must concede, of one of two things ; either of the particular 
country called Idumea, or of the whole earth under that name. 
In either case it is evident that the language must be limited. 
Probably the whole earth is meant, from the fact that the 
chapter opens with an address to the earth and all that is 
therein, the world and all that come forth of it; and the in- 
dignation of the Lord is declared to be upon all nations. Now, 
whether this refers to the depopulation and desolation of the 
earth at the second advent, or to the purifying fires that shall 
purge it of the effects of the curse at the end of the thousand 
years, the language must still be limited; for after all this, 
a renovated earth is to come forth, to be the abode of the 
nations of the saved throughout eternity. Three times this 
expression of smoke going up forever is used in the Bible: 
once here in Isaiah 34, of the land of Idumea as a figure of 
the earth; in Revelation 14 (which see), of the worshipers 
of the beast and his image ; and again in the chapter we are 
now considering, referring to the destruction of great Babylon; 
and all of them apply to the very same time, and describe the 
same scenes; namely, the destruction visited upon this earth, 
the worshipers of the beast, and all the pomp of great Babylon, 
at the second advent of our Lord and Saviour. 

Verse 4. And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell 
down and worshiped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alle- 
luia. 5. And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, 
all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. 6. 
And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice 
of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alle- 
luia : for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. 7. Let us be glad and re- 
joice, and give honor to him : for the marriage of the Lamb is come, 
and his wife hath made herself ready. 8. And to her was granted 
that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the 
fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 

A Song of Triumph. — The Lord God omnipotent, the 
Father, reigneth, is the language of this song. He reigns at 
the present time, and has ever reigned, in reality, though sen- 



CHAPTER 19, VERSES k - 8 



815 



tence against an evil work has not been executed speedily; but 
now he reigns by the open manifestation of his power in the 
subjugation of all his foes. 

" Rejoice, . . . for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and 
his wife hath made herself ready." Who is the " bride, the 
Lamb's wife/' and what is the marriage 1 A vast field for 
thought is here opened, and material furnished for a more 
lengthy exposition than falls within the design of this work. 
The Lamb's wife is the Xew Jerusalem which is above. This 
will be noticed more fully on chapter 21. The marriage of 
the Lamb is his reception of this city. When he receives this 
city, he receives it as the glory and metropolis of his kingdom ; 
hence with it he receives his kingdom, and the throne of his 
father David. This may well be the event designated by the 
marriage of the Lamb. That the marriage relation is often 
taken to illustrate the union between Christ and his people, is 
granted; but the marriage of the Lamb here spoken of is a 
definite event to take place at a definite time; and if the 
declaration that Christ is the head of the church as the 
husband is the head of the wife (Eph. 5:23), proves that 
the church is now the Lamb's wife, then the marriage of 
the Lamb took place long ago; but that cannot be, accord- 
ing to this scripture, which locates it in the future. Paul 
told his Corinthian converts that he had espoused them to 
one husband, even Christ. This is true of all converts. But 
while this figure is used to denote the relation that they 
then assumed to Christ, was it a fact that the marriage of 
the Lamb took place in Corinth in Paul's day, and that it has 
been going on for the past eighteen hundred years ? Fur- 
ther remarks on this point are deferred to a consideration of 
chapter 21. 

But if the city is the bride, it may be asked how it can be 
said that she made herself ready. Answer: By the figure of 
personification, which attributes life and action to inanimate 
objects. (See a notable example in Psalm 114.) Again, the 
query may arise on verse 8 how a city can be arrayed in the 
righteousness of the saints ; but if we consider that a city with- 
out inhabitants would be but a dreary and cheerless place, we 



816 



THE REVELATION 



see at once how this is. Reference is had to the countless 
number of its glorified inhabitants in their shining apparel. 
The raiment was granted to her. What is granted to her? 
Isaiah 54 and Gal. 4: 21 - 31 will explain. To the new-cove- 
nant city are granted many more children than to the old; 
these are her glory and rejoicing. The goodly apparel of this 
city, so to speak, consists of the hosts of the redeemed and 
immortal ones who walk its golden streets. 

Verse 9. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are 
called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, 
These are the true sayings of God. 10. And I fell at his feet to wor- 
ship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not : I am thy fellow 
servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus : wor- 
ship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. 

The Marriage Supper. — Many are the allusions to this 
marriage supper in the 'New Testament. It is referred to in 
the parable of the marriage of the king's son (Matt. 22 : 1 - 14), 
again in Luke 14: 16 - 24. It is the time when we shall eat 
bread in the kingdom of God, when we are recompensed at the 
resurrection of the just. Luke 14:12-15. It is the time 
when we shall drink of the fruit of the vine new with our Re- 
deemer in his heavenly kingdom. Matt. 26:29; Mark 14: 
25 ; Luke 22 : 18. It is the time when we shall sit at his table 
in the kingdom (Luke 22: 30), and he will gird himself, and 
come forth and serve us. Luke 12 : 37. Blessed indeed are 
they who have the privilege of partaking of this glorious feast. 

Johns Fellow Servant. — A word on verse 10, in reference 
to those who think they find here an argument for conscious- 
ness in death. The mistake which such persons make on this 
scripture is in supposing that the angel declares to John that 
he is one of the old prophets come back to communicate with 
him. The person employed in giving the Revelation to John 
is called an angel, and angels are not the departed spirits of 
the dead. Whoever takes the position that they are, is to all 
intents a Spiritualist ; for this is the very foundation-stone of 
their theory. But the angel says no such thing. He simply 
says that he is the fellow servant of John, as he had been the 
fellow servant of his brethren the prophets. The term fellow 



CHAPTER 19, VERSES 1^-21 



817 



servant implies that they were all on a common footing as serv- 
ants of the great God; hence he was not a proper object for 
John to worship. (See on chapter 1:1, " His Angel.") 

Verse 11. And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; 
and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in right- 
eousness he doth judge and make war. 12. His eyes were as a flame 
of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name writ- 
ten, that no man knew but he himself. 13. And he was clothed with 
a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 
14. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white 
horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15. And out of his 
mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations : 
and he shall rule them with a rod of iron : and he treadeth the wine- 
press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16. And he hath 
on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of kings, and 
Lord of lords. 17. And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he 
cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of 
heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the 
great God; 18. That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of 
captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and 
of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, 
both small and great. 19. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the 
earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him 
that sat on the horse, and against his army. 20. And the beast was 
taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before 
him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the 
beast, and them that worshiped his image. These both were cast 
alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. 21. And the rem- 
nant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which 
sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with 
their flesh. 

Christ's Second Coming. — With verse 11 a new scene is 
introduced. We are here carried back to the second coming of 
Christ, this time under the symbol of a warrior riding forth to 
battle. Why is he represented thus ? — Because he is going 
forth to war, — to meet " the kings of the earth and their 
armies," and this would be the only proper character in which 
to represent him on snch a mission. His vesture is dipped in 
blood. ( See a description of the same scene in Isa. 63:1-4.) 
The armies of heaven, the angels of God, follow him. Verse 
15 shows how he rules the nations with a rod of iron when 
they are given him for an inheritance, as recorded in the second 
psalm, which popular theology interprets to mean the conver- 
sion of the world. But would not such expressions as " tread- 



818 



THE REVELATION 



eth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty 
God," be a very singular description of a work of grace upon 
the hearts of the heathen for their conversion % The great and 
final display of the " winepress of God's wrath," and also of 
" the lake of fire," occurs at the end of the thousand years, as 
described in chapter 20 ; and to that it would seem that the full 
and formal description of Rev. 14: 18-20 must apply. But 
the destruction of the living wicked at the second coming of 
Christ, at the beginning of the thousand years, furnishes a scene 
on a smaller scale, similar, in both these respects, to what takes 
place at the close of that period. Hence in the verses before 
us we have this mention of both the winepress of wrath and 
the lake of fire. 

Christ has at this time closed his mediatorial work, and laid 
off his priestly robes for kingly attire ; for he has on his vesture 
and on his thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of 
lords. This is in harmony with the character in which he here 
appears; for it was the custom of warriors anciently to have 
some kind of title inscribed upon their vesture. Verse 17. 
What is to be understood by the angel standing in the sun ? 
In chapter 16 : 17 we read of the seventh vial being poured out 
into the air, from which it was inferred that as the air envelops 
the whole earth, that plague would be universal. May not the 
same principle of interpretation apply here, and show that the 
angel standing in the sun, and issuing his call from thence to 
the fowls of heaven to come to the supper of the great God, 
denotes that this proclamation will go wherever the sun's rays 
fall upon this earth ? And the fowls will be obedient to the 
call, and fill themselves with the flesh of horses, kings, cap- 
tains, and mighty men. Thus, while the saints are partaking 
of the marriage supper of the Lamb, the wicked in their own 
persons furnish a great supper for the fowls of the heavens. 

The beast and false prophet are taken. The false prophet 
is the one that works miracles before the beast. This proves 
him to be identical with the two-horned beast of chapter 13, 
to whom the same work, for the very same purpose, is there 
attributed. The fact that these are cast alive into the lake of 
fire, shows that these powers will not pass away and be sue- 



CHAPTER 19, VERSES 11 - 21 



819 



ceeded by others, but be living powers at the second advent of 
Christ. 

The papacy has long been in the field, and has come to the 
closing scenes in its career. And its overthrow is emphatically 
predicted in other prophecies than the one now before us, nota- 
bly in Dan. 7:11, in which the prophet says that he beheld 
till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed and given to the 
burning flame. And this followed close upon the utterance of 
great words which the horn spake, which words were doubtless 
heard in the decree of papal infallibility in the great ecumen- 
ical council of 1870. This power must therefore be very near 
the close of its existence. But it does not perish till Christ 
appears, for it then goes alive into the lake of fire. 

The other power associated with it, the two-horned beast, 
we see fast approaching the very climax of the work it has to 
do before it also goes alive into the lake of fire. And how 
thrilling is the thought that we see before us two great pro- 
phetic agencies which are, by all the evidences, near the close 
of their history, which yet are not to cease till the Lord shall 
appear in all his glory. 

It appears from verse 21 that there is a remnant not num- 
bered with the beast or false prophet. These are slain by the 
sword of Him that sits upon the horse, which sword proceeds 
out of his mouth. This sword is doubtless what is spoken of 
elsewhere as " the spirit of his mouth " and " the breath of his 
lips," with which the Lord shall slay the wicked at his appear- 
ing and kingdom. Isa. 11:4; 2 Thess. 2:8. 




CHAPTEE XX. 

Verse 1. And I saw 
an angel come down 
from heaven, having the 
key of the bottomless 
pit and a great chain in 
his hand. 2. And he 
laid hold on the dragon, 
that old serpent, which 
is the devil, and Satan, 
and bound him a thousand years, 3. And cast him into the bottomless 
pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should de- 
ceive the nations no more till the thousand years should be fulfilled: 
and after that he must be loosed a little season. 

THE event with which this chapter opens seems to follow, 
in chronological order, the events of the preceding chap- 
ter. The inquiries that here arise are, Who is the angel 
that comes down from heaven ? what are the key and chain 
which he has in his hand ? what is the bottomless pit ? and what 
is meant by binding Satan a thousand years ? 

1. The Angel. — Is this angel Christ, as some suppose ? — 
Evidently not. A bright ray of light is thrown from the old 
typical service directly upon this passage. Thus, Christ is the 
great High Priest of this dispensation. On the day of atone- 
ment, anciently, two goats were taken by the priest, upon 
which lots were cast, one for the Lord, and the other for the 
scapegoat. The one upon which the Lord's lot fell, was then 
slain, and his blood carried into the sanctuary to make an 
(820) 



CHAPTER 20, VERSES 1 - 3 



821 



atonement for the children of Israel, after which the sins of 
the people were confessed upon the head of the other, or scape- 
goat, and he was sent away by the hand of a fit man into the 
wilderness, or a place not inhabited. Now, as Christ is the 
priest of this dispensation, so by arguments, a few of which we 
here introduce, Satan is shown to be the antitypical scapegoat. 

(1) The Hebrew word for scapegoat, as given in the mar- 
gin of Lev. 16:8, is Azazel. On this verse, Jenks, in his 
Comprehensive Commentary, remarks: " Scapegoat. (See 
diff. opin. in Bochart.) Spencer, after the oldest opinion of 
the Hebrews and Christians, thinks Azazel is the name of the 
devil; and so Rosenmiiller, whom see. The Syriac has Azzail, 
the angel (strong one) who revolted." The devil is here evi- 
dently pointed out. Thus we have the definition of the Scrip- 
ture term in two ancient languages, with the oldest opinion of 
the Christians, in favor of the view that the scapegoat is a 
type of Satan. 

Charles Beecher, in Redeemer and Redeemed, pp. 67, 68, 
says : " AMiat goes to confirm this is that the most ancient 
paraphrases and translations treat Azazel as a proper name. 
The Chaldee j)araphrase anc l the targums of Onkelos and 
Jonathan would certainly have translated it if it was not a 
proper name, but they do not. The Septuagint, or oldest 
Greek version, renders it by airoiroinraios (apopomjjaios) , a 
word applied by the Greeks to a malign deity sometimes ap- 
peased by sacrifices. Another confirmation is found in the 
book of Enoch, where the name Azalzel, evidently a corruption 
of Azazel, is given to one of the fallen angels, thus plainly 
showing what was the prevalent understanding of the Jews 
at that day. 

" Still another evidence is found in the Arabic, where 
Azazel is employed as the name of the evil spirit. In addition 
to these, we have the evidence of the Jewish work Zohar, and 
of the Cabalistic and Rabbinical writers. They tell us that 
the following proverb was current among the Jews : i On the 
day of atonement, a gift to Sammael.' Hence Hoses Gerun- 
dinensis feels called to say that it is not a sacrifice, but only 
done because commanded by God. 



822 



THE REVELATION 



"Another step in the evidence is when we find this same 
opinion passing from the Jewish to the early Christian chnrch. 
Origen was the most learned of the Fathers, and on such a 
point as this, the meaning of a Hebrew word, his testimony is 
reliable. Origen says, i He who is called in the Septuagint 
dTroTro/xTratos, and in the Hebrew Azazel, is no other than the 
devil.' 

" In view, then, of the difficulties . attending any other 
meaning, and the accumulated evidence in favor of this, 
Hengstenberg affirms with great confidence that Azazel cannot 
be anything else than another name for Satan." 

(2) In the common acceptation of the word, the term 
scapegoat is applied to any one who has become obnoxious 
to the claims of justice; and while it is revolting to all our 
conceptions of the character and glory of Christ to apply this 
term to him, it must strike every one as a very appropriate 
designation of the devil, who is styled in Scripture the accuser, 
adversary, angel of the bottomless pit, Beelzebub, Belial, 
dragon, enemy, evil spirit, father of lies, murderer, prince of 
devils, serpent, tempter, etc., etc. 

(3) The third reason for this position is the very striking 
manner in which it harmonizes with the events to transpire in 
connection with the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, as far 
as revealed to us in the Scriptures of truth. 

We behold in the type, (a) the sin of the transgressor 
transferred to the victim; (b) we see that sin borne by the 
ministration of the priest and the blood of the offering into the 
sanctuary; (c) on the tenth day of the seventh month we see 
the priest, with the blood of the sin-offering for the people, 
remove all their sins from the sanctuary, and lay them upon 
the head of the scapegoat; and (d) the goat bears them away 
into a land not inhabited. Lev. 1:1-4; 4:3-6; 16:5 - 10, 
15, 16, 20- 22. 

Answering to these events in the type, we behold in the 
antitype, (a) the great offering for the world made on Calvary; 
(b) the sins of all those who avail themselves of the merits of 
Christ's shed blood by faith in him, borne, by the ministration 
of Christ while pleading his own blood, into the new-covenant 



CHAPTER 20, VERSES 1 - 3 



823 



sanctuary; (c) after Christ, the minister of the true tabernacle 
(Heb. 8:2), has finished his ministration, he will remove the 
sins of his people from the sanctuary, and lay them upon the 
head of their author, the antitypical scapegoat, the devil; and 
(d) the devil will be sent away with them into a land not 
inhabited. 

This we believe to be the very event described in the verses 
under notice. The sanctuary service is, at the time here speci- 
fied, closed. Christ lays upon the head of the devil the sins 
which have been transferred to the sanctuary, and which are 
imputed to the saints no more, and the devil is sent away, not 
by the hand of the High Priest, but by the hand of another 
person, according to the type, into a place here called the bot- 
tomless pit. Hence this angel is not Christ. For a full expo- 
sition of this subject, see the work, Looking unto Jesus; or 
Christ in Type and Antitype. 

2. The Key and Chain. — It cannot be supposed that the 
key and chain are literal ; they are rather used merely as sym- 
bols of the power and authority with which this angel is clothed 
upon this occasion. 

3. The Bottomless Pit. — The original word signifies an 
abyss, bottomless, deep, profound. Its use seems to be such 
as to show that the word denotes any place of darkness, deso- 
lation, and death. Thus in Rev. 9:1, 2, it is applied to the 
barren wastes of the Arabian desert, and in Rom. 10:7, to 
the grave ; but the passage which specially throws light upon 
the, meaning of the word here is Gen. 1:2, where we read that 
" darkness was upon the face of the deep." The word there 
rendered deep is the same word that is here rendered bottomless 
pit; so that passage might have been translated, " Darkness was 
upon the face of the abyss, or bottomless pit." But we all know 
what is meant by the word deep as there used; it is applied to 
this earth in its chaotic state. Precisely this it must mean in 
this third verse of Revelation 20. At this time, let it be borne 
in mind, the earth is a vast charnel-house of desolation and 
death. The voice of God has shaken it to its foundations ; the 
islands and mountains have been moved out of their places; 
the great earthquake has leveled to the earth the mightiest 

52 



824 THE REVELATION 

works of man; the seven last plagnes have left their all-deso- 
lating footprints over the earth; the burning glory attending 
the coming of the Son of man has borne its part in accomplish- 
ing the general desolation; the wicked have been given to the 
slaughter, and their putrefying flesh and bleaching bones lie 
unburied, ungathered, and unlamented from one end of the 
earth to the other end thereof. Thus is the earth made empty 
and waste, and turned upside down. Isa. 24 : 1. Thus is it 
brought back again, partially at least, to its original state of 
confusion and chaos. (See Jer. 4:19-26, especially verse 
23.) And what better term could be used to describe the 
earth thus rolling on in its course of darkness and desolation 
for a thousand years than that of the abyss, or bottomless pit I 
Here Satan will be confined during this time, amid the ruins 
which indirectly his own hands have wrought, unable to flee 
from his habitation of woe, or to repair in the least degree its 
hideous ruin. 

4. The Binding of Satan. — We well know that Satan, in 
order to work, must have subjects upon whom to work. With- 
out these, he can do nothing. But during the thousand years 
of his confinement to this earth, all the saints are in heaven, 
beyond the power of his temptations; and all the wicked are 
in their graves, beyond his power to deceive. His sphere of 
action is circumscribed, he being at this time confined to this 
earth; and thus is he bound, being condemned throughout this 
period to a state of hopeless inactivity. This, to a mind that 
has been so busy as his has been for the past six thousand 
years in deceiving the world, must be a punishment of the 
most intense severity. 

According to this exposition, the " binding " of Satan means 
simply the placing beyond his reach of the subjects upon whom 
he works, and his being " loosed " means their being brought 
again, by a resurrection, to a position where he can again exer- 
cise his power upon them. Over this exposition some assume 
to grow merry, telling us that we have mistaken the parties, 
and have the wicked bound, not the devil. Yet how often do 
we hear, in the daily transactions of life, such expressions as 
these: My way was completely hedged up; my hands were 



CHAPTER 20, VERSES 1-6 825 

completely tied, etc. But do we understand, when persons 
use such expressions, that some insurmountable obstacle was 
literally thrown across the path they were traveling, or that 
their hands were literally confined with ropes or cords ? — No ; 
but simply that a combination of circumstances rendered it 
impossible for them to act. Just so here ; and why will not 
people grant to the Bible the same liberty of speech that they 
give, without question and without ridicule, to their fellow 
men in the common intercourse of life \ But more than this, 
there is here a great limitation of Satan's power, which may 
well be called a " binding." He no longer has the power of 
traversing space, and visiting other worlds; but like man he 
is confined to this earth, which he nevermore leaves. The 
place of the ruin he has wrought now becomes his gloomy 
prison-house, till he is led out to execution, at the end of the 
thousand years. 

Verse 4. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judg- 
ment was given unto them : and I saw the souls of them that were be- 
headed for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, aud which 
had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received 
his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and 
reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5. But the rest of the dead 
lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the 
first resurrection. 6. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first 
resurrection : on such the second death hath no power, but they shall 
be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand 
years. 

The Exaltation of the Saints. — From the devil in his 
gloomy confinement, John now directs our attention to the 
saints in victory and glory, — the saints reigning with Christ 
— their employment being to assign to the wicked dead the 
punishment due their evil deeds. From that general assembly 
John then selects two classes as worthy of especial attention: 
first, the martyrs, those who had been beheaded for the witness 
of Jesus ; and secondly, those who had not worshiped the beast 
and his image. This class, the ones who refuse the mark of 
the beast and his image, are of course the ones who hear and 
obey the third message of Revelation 14; but these are not the 
ones who are beheaded for the witness of Jesus, as some who 



826 



TEE REVELATION 



claim that the last generation of saints are all to he slain, would 
have ns helieve. The word rendered which, in the expression, 
" and which had not worshiped the beast," etc., shows that 
there is another class introduced. The word is the compound 
relative, 6Wis (host is), not merely the simple relative 6's, and 
is defined by Liddell and Scott, " Whosoever ; whichsoever; 
any one who; anything which; " and by Robinson, " One who; 
some one who; whosoever; whatsoever." As one class, John 
saw the martyrs, and as another, he saw those who had not 
worshiped the beast and his image. 

It is true that Saris is sometimes used as a simple relative, 
as in 2 Cor. 3:14; Eph. 1:23, but never in such construc- 
tions as this, preceded by the conjunction koI. 

Lest any one should say that if we render the passage " and 
whosoever had not worshiped the beast," we thereby include 
millions of heathen and sinners who have not worshiped the 
beast, and promise them a reign with Christ of a thousand 
years, we would call attention to the fact that the preceding 
chapter states that the wicked had all been slain, and the seal 
of death had been set upon them for a thousand years; and 
John is viewing only the righteous company who have part 
in the first resurrection. 

To avoid the doctrine of two resurrections, some claim that 
the passage, " But the rest of the dead lived not again until the 
thousand years were finished," is an interpolation, not found in 
the original, and hence not genuine. Even if this were so, it 
would not disprove the main proposition that the righteous dead 
are raised by themselves, in a " first resurrection," and that 
there is a second resurrection a thousand years later, in which 
all the wicked are brought from their graves. But the criti- 
cism is not true. All scholarship is against it. The Revised 
Yersion retains the passage. 

Two Besurrections. — " The rest of the dead lived not again 
until the thousand years were finished." Whatever may be said 
to the contrary, no language could more plainly prove two 
resurrections ; the first, a resurrection of the righteous at the 
commencement of the thousand years; and the second, that of 
the wicked at the end of that period. On such as have part in 



CHAPTER 20, VERSES k - 10 



827 



the first resurrection, the second death will have no power. 
They can pass unharmed through the elements which destroy 
the wicked like chaff. They will be able to dwell with devour- 
ing fire and everlasting burnings (Isa. 33: 11, 15) ; they will 
be able to go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men who 
have transgressed against the Lord, as the quenchless fire and 
undying worm are preying upon them. Isa. 66 : 24. The dif- 
ference between the righteous and the wicked in this respect 
is seen again in the fact that while God is to the latter a con- 
suming fire, he is to his people both a sun and a shield. 

The Wicked Raised to Life. — The wicked who are raised at 
the end of the thousand years as really live again as they have 
once lived on the earth. To deny this is to do violence to this 
scripture. In what physical condition they will be raised, we 
are not informed. It is usual to say on this point that what 
we have lost unconditionally in Adam, is restored uncondition- 
ally in Christ. With respect to physical condition, this should 
not perhaps be taken in an unlimited sense; for we have lost 
greatly in stature and vital force, which need not be restored 
to the wicked. If they are brought back to the average mental 
and physical condition which they enjoyed during life, or the 
period of their probation, that would certainly be sufficient to 
enable them to receive at last understandingly the reward due 
them for all their deeds. 

Verse 7. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall 
be loosed out of his prison, 8. And shall go out to deceive the nations 
which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to 
gather them together to battle : the number of whom is as the sand of 
the sea. 9. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and com- 
passed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire 
came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 10. And the 
devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, 
where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day 
and night forever and ever. 

The Perdition of Ungodly Men. — At the end of the one 
thousand years, the holy city, the New Jerusalem, in which 
the saints have dwelt in heaven during that period, comes 
down, and is located upon the earth, and becomes the camp of 
the saints, around which the resurrected wicked come up, num.- 



828 



THE REVELATION 



berless as the sand of the sea. The devil deceives them, and 
thus brings them np to this battle. They are induced to com- 
mence an impious warfare upon the holy city, in prospect of 
some advantage to be gained by fighting against the saints. 
Satan doubtless persuades them that they can overcome the 
saints, dispossess them of their city, and still hold possession of 
the earth. But fire comes down from God out of heaven, and 
devours them. The word here rendered devoured, Professor 
Stuart admits is " intensive," and signifies " to eat up, devour, 
so that it denotes utter excision." (Hudson's Christ our Life, 
p. 146.) This is the time of the perdition of ungodly men, — 
the time when the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the 
earth also, and when the works that are in the earth shall be 
burned up. 2 Peter 3 : 7, 10. In the light of these scriptures, 
we can see how the wicked are to receive their recompense in 
the earth (Pro v. 11 : 31) ; we can see also that this recompense 
is not eternal life in misery, but an " utter excision," entire 
and complete destruction. 

The Wicked Never Tread the New Earth. — Two views 
deserve a passing notice at this point. The first is that the 
earth is renewed at the second coming of Christ, and is the 
habitation of the saints during the thousand years; the other 
is that when Christ appears the second time, he sets up his 
kingdom in Palestine, and performs, in connection with his 
saints, a work of conquest over the nations left on the earth 
during the thousand years, and subdues them to himself. 

One among many objections to the first view is that it 
makes the wicked, in their resurrection, come up, with the 
devil at their head, and tread with their unhallowed feet upon 
the purified and holy earth, and the saints, who have held 
possession for a thousand years, are obliged to yield the ground, 
and flee into the city. But we cannot believe that the saints' 
inheritance will ever be thus marred, or that the fair plains of 
the earth made new will ever be soiled with the polluting tread 
of the resuscitated wicked; for besides outraging all ideas of 
propriety, there is no scripture from which even an inference 
can be drawn to support it. 

And as to the second view, one among many of its absurd- 



CHAPTER 20, VERSES 7 - 10 



829 



ities is that notwithstanding Christ and his saints have con- 
quered the earth during the thousand years, at the end of this 
period the wicked get the npper hand of them, they lose their 
territory, the work of a thousand years is undone, and they 
are compelled to beat an ignominious retreat into the city for 
shelter, leaving the earth to the undisputed sway of their foes. 
Those who wish, may rack their brains in trying to harmonize 
the inconsistencies and absurdities of such theories, or may 
endeavor to draw consolation from the dubious prospect. For 
ourselves, we prefer better employment and a brighter hope. 

A Thousand Years in Heaven. — In contrast with these 
theories, there is a beautiful harmony in the view herein 
presented; namely, that the saints are with Christ in heaven 
during the thousand years while the earth lies desolate; that 
the saints and the city come down, and the wicked dead are 
raised and come up against it ; that the latter there receive 
their judgment; and that from the purifying fires which de- 
stroy them come forth the new heavens and the new earth, to 
be the abode of the righteous throughout endless ages. 

The Subjects of Torment. — From verse 10, some have 
argued that the devil alone was to be tormented day and night ; 
but the testimony of this verse is more extensive than that. 
The verb " shall be tormented " is in the plural, and agrees 
with the beast and false prophet; whereas it would be in the 
singular number if it referred to the devil alone. It will be 
noticed that in the expression, " where the beast and the false 
prophet are," are is a supplied word. It would be more proper 
to supply the words were cast, answering to what was spoken 
of the devil just before. The sentence would then read, " The 
devil was cast into the lake of fire, where the beast and false 
prophet were cast." The beast and false prophet were cast 
in there, and destroyed, at the commencement of the thousand 
years. Rev. 19 : 20. The individuals of whom those organi- 
zations were then composed, now come up in the second resur- 
rection, and a similar and final destruction is visited upon 
them, under the names Gog and Magog. 

The Lake of Fire. — Some reader may be inclined to ask 
for a definition of the lake of fire. As a comprehensive defini- 



830 THE REVELATION 

tion, may it not be called a symbol of the agencies which God 
employs to close np his controversy with the living wicked at 
the beginning of the thousand years, and with all the hosts of 
the ungodly at the end of that period ? Literal fire will of 
course be largely employed in this work. We can better de- 
scribe its effects than the thing itself. At the second coming of 
Christ, it is the flaming fire in which the Lord Jesus is re- 
vealed ; it is the spirit of his mouth and brightness of his com- 
ing, by which the man of sin is to be consumed; it is the fire 
in which great Babylon shall be utterly burned. Rev. 18:8. 
At the end of the thousand years, it is the day that shall burn 
as an oven ( Mai. 4:1); it is the fervent heat that shall melt 
the elements and the earth, and burn up the works that are 
therein; it is the fire of Tophet " prepared for the king" (the 
devil and his angels, Matt. 25:41), the pile whereof is deep 
and large, and which " the breath of the Lord, like a stream 
of brimstone, doth kindle." Isa. 30:33. It is the fire that 
comes down from God out of heaven. (On the expression, 
" tormented day and night forever and ever," see on chap- 
ter 14: 11.) 

Verse 11. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, 
from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was 
found no place for them. 12. And I saw the dead, small and great, 
stand before God; and the books were opened; and another book was 
opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of 
those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 
13. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and 
hell delivered up the dead which were in them : and they were judged 
every man accoring to their works. 14. And death and hell were 
cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15. And whoso- 
ever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake 
of fire. 

With verse 11, John introduces another scene to take place 
in connection with the final doom of the ungodly. It is the 
great white throne of judgment, before which they are assem- 
bled to receive their awful sentence of condemnation and death. 
Before this throne the heavens and the earth flee away, so that 
no place is found for them. A moment's reflection on the 
changes which must then take place in the earth will bring out 
the great force of this language. The scene is that of Peter's 




THE INVESTIGATIVE JUDGMENT 

"The judgment was set, and the books were opened." Dan. 7 -10. 



CHAPTER 20, VERSES 11 - 15 



833 



burning day, which is the " perdition of ungodly men/' and in 
which even the " elements " melt with fervent heat. 2 Peter 
3 : 7 - 13. The city is then located upon the earth, the foun- 
dations of course extending under its whole area, so that it 
will not be affected by any changes that may take place, or any 
conditions which may exist, in the earth beneath it. Fire 
comes down from God out of heaven. 

First, the works that are in the world are burned up ; and 
by the poisonous gases evolved, and the names, the wicked are 
destroyed; this is the fire of Gehenna, which contains all the 
elements necessary to consume utterly every mortal being that 
comes under its power (Mark 9 : 43 - 48) ; and then will be ful- 
filled Isa. 66:24: "And they [the righteous] shall go forth, 
and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed 
against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their 
fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all" 
flesh." 

Secondly, the heat is raised till all the material of which 
this globe is composed, is fused like the ores in a smelter's 
furnace, and the whole earth becomes a fluid, fiery, molten 
mass. Upon this the city floats, as the ark of Noah floated 
upon the waters of the flood. Then will be fulfilled Isa. 33 : 
14 : " Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire ? 
who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings 1 " The 
answer, in the following verses, shows it to be the righteous, 
and this must be the time when it will be fulfilled. 

Thirdly, there is one stage more to be reached. It is well 
known that with a sufficient degree of heat, any substance on 
this earth can be reduced to the condition of gas, and thus 
become invisible. So will it be then with this whole earth. 
The heat being raised to a sufficient degree of intensity, would 
not the whole earth be converted into gas, and become invisi- 
ble, and thus appear most literally to flee away, so that no 
place is found for it ? The city would then seem to be, as 
virtually it would be, suspended in mid-heaven. 

But the elements are not destroyed. They are only, by 
that process, purged from the last and minutest taint of sin, 
and every token of the curse. The almighty fiat again goes 



834 



THE REVELATION 



forth, " Behold, I make all things new. ... It is done n 
(Rev. 21: 5, 6), and the particles combine again to compose a 
new world; and there, beneath the wondering and admiring 
gaze of all the redeemed and the angelic host, the work of 
creation is gone through with again. At the first creation, the 
morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted 
for joy. Job 38:7. At this new creation, that song and 
shout will be augmented by the glad voices of the redeemed. 
So will this earth, wrenched for a time, by sin, from its in- 
tended orbit of joy and peace, be brought back, renewed, into 
harmony with a loyal universe, to be the everlasting home of 
the saved. 

The Boohs of Record. — Men are judged out of the things 
written in the books, from which we learn the solemn fact that 
a record of all our deeds is kept on high. A faithful and 
unerring record is made by the angelic secretaries. The wicked 
cannot conceal from them any of their deeds of darkness. 
They cannot bribe them to pass over in their record any of 
their unlawful acts. They must meet them all again, and be 
judged accordingly. 

The Execution of the Sentence. — The wicked are to be pun- 
ished according to their works. The Scriptures declare that 
they shall be rewarded according to their deeds. There are, 
then, to be degrees in the punishment of the wicked ; and it may 
be asked how this can be harmonized with the view that death is 
the punishment for sin, and comes upon all alike. Let us ask 
believers in eternal misery how they will maintain degrees in 
their system. They tell us the intensity of the pain endured 
will be in each case proportioned to the guilt of the sufferer. 
But how can this be ? Are not the flames of hell equally 
severe in all parts ? and will they not equally affect all the 
immaterial souls cast therein ? But God can interpose, it is 
answered, to produce the effect desired. Very well, then, we 
reply, cannot he also interpose, if necessary, and graduate the 
pain which will attend the infliction of death upon the sinner 
as the climax of his penalty ? So, then, our view is equal with 
the common one in this respect, while it possesses great advan- 
tages over it in another; for while that has to find its degrees 



CHAPTER 20, VERSES 11 - 15 



835 



of punishment in intensity of pain alone, the duration in all 
cases being the same, this may not only have degrees in pain, 
but in duration also; inasmuch as some may perish in a short 
space of time, and the weary sufferings of others be long drawn 
out. But yet we apprehend that the bodily suffering will be 
but an unnoticed trifle compared with the mental agony, that 
keen anguish which will rack their souls as they get a view of 
their incomparable loss, each according to his capacity of appre- 
ciation. The youth who had but little more than reached the 
years of accountability, being less able to comprehend his sit- 
uation and his loss, will of course feel it less; to him of older 
years, more capacity, and consequently a deeper experience in 
sin, the burden of his fate will be proportionately greater; 
while the man of giant intellect and almost boundless compre- 
hension, — who hence possessed greater influence for evil, and 
so was the more guilty for devoting his powers to the service 
of that evil, — being able to understand his situation fully, com- 
prehend his fate, and realize -his loss, will feel it most keenly of 
all. Into his soul the iron will indeed enter most intolerably 
deep. And thus, by an established law of mind, the sufferings 
of each may be most accurately adjusted to the magnitude of 
his guilt. 

That the degree of suffering which each one is to endure is 
taken into the account as a part of the punishment of his 
crimes, is evident from Rom. 2 : 6-10. Paul, here speaking 
of the future " judgment of God/' says : — 

" Who will render to every man according to his deeds : to 
them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory 
and honor and immortality [he will render], eternal life; but 
unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but 
obey unrighteousness [he will render], indignation and wrath, 
tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth 
evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile." 

The Booh of Life. — Why, it may be asked, is the book of 
life brought forth on this occasion, when all who have part in 
the second resurrection, beyond which this scene is located, are 
already forejudged to* the second death ? At least one apparent 
reason is, that it may be seen that none of the names of all 



836 



THE REVELATION 



the multitude who die the second death are in the book of life, 
and why they are not there; and if the names have ever been 
there, .why they were not retained; that all the intelligences 
of the universe may see that God acts with strict justice and 
impartiality. 

"And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This 
is the second death. 7 ' This is the final epitaph of all the forces 
that have risen up, from first to last, to oppose the will and 
work of the Lord Almighty. Satan originated and led out in 
this nefarious work. A portion of heaven's angels joined him 
in his false position and murderous work; and for him and 
them the everlasting fire was prepared. Matt. 25 : 41. Men 
become involved therein only because they join him in his 
rebellion. But here the controversy closes. The fire is to 
them everlasting because it allows of no escape. The second 
death is their punishment, and it is " everlasting punishment " 
(Matt. 25: 46) because they never find release from its dread 
embrace. " The wages of sin is death." 

"And whosoever was not found written in the book of life 
was cast into the lake of fire." Reader, is your name written 
in the book of life ? Are you striving to avert in your own 
case the fearful doom that awaits the ungodly ? Rest not till 
you have reason to believe that your name is registered in 
the list of those who are to share at last in the blessings of 
eternal life. 



CHAPTER XXL 



THE burden of this chapter, commencing with verse 2, is 
the New Jerusalem; but before that is introduced, John 
tells us how the present heaven and earth and sea are 
to be disposed of, as follows: — 

Verse 1. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first 
heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more 
sea. 

New Heaven and New Earth. — By the first heaven and 
first earth, John unquestionably means the present heaven and 
earth, " the heavens and the earth which are now." 2 Peter 
3 : 7. Some have supposed that when the Bible speaks of the 
third heaven, in which are paradise and the tree of life (2 
Cor. 12:2; Rev. 2:7), it refers to the heaven which is yet 
future, and does not prove that there is a paradise and tree of 
life literally in existence in heaven at the present time. They 
base their view on the fact that Peter speaks of three heavens 
and earths, — (1) those before the flood, (2) the ones which 
now are, and (3) the ones which are to come. But that theory 
is completely overturned by the first verse of Revelation 21 ; 
for John here reckons but two heavens and earths. The ones 
which now are he calls the first, so that the future new heavens 
would, according to this count, be the second, and not the third, 
as Peter reckons. Hence it is certain that Peter did not de- 

(837) 



838 



THE REVELATION 



sign to establish a numerical order, in accordance with which 
we should speak of one as the first, another as the second, 
and the last as the third. The object of his reasoning was 
simply to show that as a literal heaven and earth succeeded to 
the destruction of the earth by the flood, so a literal heaven 
and earth would result from the renovation of the present 
system by fire. There is no proof, therefore, that the Bible, 
when it speaks of the third heaven, refers simply to the third 
state of the present heavens and earth, for then all the Bible 
writers would uniformly have so reckoned it. Thus the argu- 
ments of those who would endeavor to disprove the idea of a 
literal paradise and tree of life in existence at the present time, 
fall to the ground. The Bible certainly recognizes three heav- 
ens in the present constitution of things ; namely, the first, or 
atmospheric heaven, which the fowls of the air inhabit; the 
second, the planetary heaven, the region of the sun, moon, and 
stars ; and the third, high above the others, where paradise and 
the tree of life are found (Rev. 2:7); where God has his 
residence and his throne (Rev. 22 : 1, 2) ; to which Paul was 
caught up in heavenly vision (2 Cor. 12: 2) ; to which Christ 
ascended when he left- the earth (Rev. 12: 5) ; where he now, 
as priest-king, sits upon the throne with his Father (Zech. 
6: 13) ; and where the glorious city stands, awaiting the saints 
when they enter into life. Rev. 21:2. Blessed be God that 
from that bright land intelligence has been brought to this 
far-off world of ours! and thanks be to his holy name that a 
way has been opened from the dark places of earth, which 
leads like a straight and shining path of light up to those 
blest abodes! 

The Sea No More. — Because John says, "And there was 
no more sea," the question is sometimes asked, " Is there, then, 
to be no sea in the new earth ? " It does not certainly follow 
from this text that there will be none; for John is speaking 
only of the present heaven and earth and sea. It might be 
translated thus : " For the first heaven and the first earth 
were passed away, and the sea [ovk eo-rw eri] was no more; " 
that is, the old sea no longer appeared, any more than the old 



CHAPTER 21, VERSE 8 1 - k 



839 



heaven and old earth ; and yet there may be a new sea as there 
is a new earth. 

Dr. Clarke says on this passage : " The sea no more ap- 
peared than did the first heaven and earth'. All was made 
new; and probably the new sea occupied a different position, 
and was differently distributed, from that of the old sea." 

The river of life, of which we read in the following chap- 
ter, proceeding from the throne of God, and flowing through 
the broad street of the city, must find some place into which 
to discharge its waters; and what can that be but the new- 
earth sea ? That there will be a sea, or seas, in the new earth, 
may be inferred from the prophecy which speaks of Christ's 
future reign as follows: "And his dominion shall be from sea 
even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth." 
Zech. 9 : 10. But that three quarters of the globe will then, as 
now, be abandoned to a waste of waters, cannot be expected. 
The new world will have everything which will contribute to 
its utility and beauty. 

Verse 2. And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming 
down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her 
husband. 3. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, 
the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, 
and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and 
be their God. 4. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; 
and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither 
shall there be any more pain : for the former things are passed away. 

The Father s House. — In connection with the view which 
John has of the holy city coming down from God out of heaven, 
a voice is heard, saying, " The tabernacle of God is with men, 
and he will dwell with them." The conclusion naturally 
follows that the tabernacle here mentioned is the city. This 
same city is called in John 14 the Father's house in which 
are many mansions. If an objection should arise in any mind 
that this is too permanent a place to be called a tabernacle, we 
reply that the word " tabernacle " sometimes has the significa- 
tion of a permanent dwelling-place. The great God takes up 
his abode on this earth; but we do not suppose that God is 
confined to this, or any other one of the worlds of his creation. 
53 



840 



THE REVELATION 



He here has a throne, and the earth enjoys so much of his 
presence that it may be said that he dwells among men. And 
why shonld this be thought a strange thing? God's only 
begotten Son is here as rnler of his special kingdom; the holy 
city, which is called the Father's house, and which it is natural 
to suppose will be the most beautiful and glorious object in the 
universe, will be here ; and the heavenly hosts take an interest 
in this world probably above what they feel in any other ; yea, 
reasoning from one of the Saviour's parables, there will be 
more joy in heaven over one world redeemed than over ninety 
and nine which have needed no redemption. 

No Cause for Tears. — And God shall wipe away all tears 
from their eyes. He does not literally wipe away tears from 
the eyes of his people; for there will be no tears in that 
kingdom to be thus wiped away; but he wipes away tears by 
removing all causes of tears. 

Verse 5. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all 
things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true 
and faithful. 6. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and 
Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is 
athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 

The New Creation. — He that sits upon the throne is the 
same being that is mentioned in verses 11, 12 of the preceding 
chapter. He says, " I make all things new ; " not, I make 
all new things. The earth is not destroyed, annihilated, and 
a new one created, but all things are made over new. Let 
us rejoice that these words are true and faithful. And when 
this is accomplished, all will be ready for the utterance of 
that sublime sentence, "It is done." The dark shadow of 
sin has then forever passed off from the universe. The wicked, 
root and branch (Mai. 4:1), are wiped out of the land of the 
living, and the universal anthem of praise and thanksgiving 
(Rev. 5 : 13) goes up from a redeemed world and a clean uni- 
verse to a covenant-keeping God. 

Verse 7. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will 
be his God, and he shall be my son. 8. But the fearful, and unbeliev- 
ing, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sor- 
cerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake 
which burnetii with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. 




THE ANGEL SHOWING JOHN THE HOLY CITY 



CHAPTER 21, VERSES 7 - U 843 

The Great Inheritance. — The overcomers are Abraham's 
seed, and heirs according to the promise. Gal. 3 : 29. The 
promise embraces the world (Eom. 4: 13) ; and the saints will 
go forth upon the new earth, not as servants or aliens, but as 
lawful heirs to the heavenly estate and proprietors of the soil. 

The Fear that Hath Torment. — But the fearful and unbe- 
lieving have their part in the lake that burneth with fire and 
brimstone. The word " fearful " has been a trouble to some 
conscientious ones, who have had fears more or less in all their 
Christian experience. It may be well, therefore, to inquire 
what kind of fear is here meant. It is not fear of our own 
weakness, or of the power of the tempter; it is not fear of 
sinning, or of falling out by the way, or of coming short at 
last. Such fear will be very apt to drive us to the Lord. 
But it is a fear connected with unbelief; a fear of the ridi- 
cule and opposition of the world; a fear to trust God, and 
venture out upon his promises; a fear that he will not fulfil 
what he has declared, and that consequently we shall be left 
to shame and loss for believing on him. Cherishing such fear, 
one can be only half-hearted in his service. This is most dis- 
honoring to God. This is the fear which we are commanded 
not to have. Isa. 51:7. This is the fear which brings into 
condemnation here, and will finally bring all who are controlled 
by it into the lake of fire, which is the second death. 

Verse 9. And there came unto me one of the seven angels which 
had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, 
saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. 
10. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high moun- 
tain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending 
out of heaven from God, 11. Having the glory of God : and her light 
was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as 
crystal; 12. And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and 
at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the 
names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel : 13. On the east 
three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and 
on the west three gates. 14. And the wall of the city had twelve 
foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the 
Lamb. 

The Bride, the Lamb's Wife. — This testimony is positive 
that the ISTew Jerusalem is the bride, the Lamb's wife. The 



844 



THE REVELATION 



angel told John distinctly that he would show him the bride, 
the Lamb's wife; and we may be sure that he did not practice 
upon him a piece of deception, but fulfilled hi's promise to the 
very letter; but all that he did show him was the New Jeru- 
salem. It would be unnecessary to offer a word of proof that 
this city is not the church, were it not that popular theology 
has so mystified the Scriptures as to give it this application. 
This city, then, cannot be the church, because it would be 
absurd to talk of the church as lying foursquare, and having 
a north side, a south side, an east side, and a west side. It 
would be absurd to speak of the church as having a wall great 
and high, and having twelve gates, three on each side toward 
the four points of the compass. Indeed, the whole description 
of the city which is given in this chapter would be more or 
less an absurdity if applied to the church. 

Again: Paul, to the Galatians, speaks of the same city 
and says that it is the mother of us all, referring to the church. 
The church, then, is not the city itself, but the children of the 
city. And verse 24 of the chapter under comment, speaks of 
the nations of the saved, who walk in the light of this city. 
These nations who are the saved, and on earth constitute the 
church, are distinct from the city, in the light of which they 
walk. It follows that the city is a literal city, built of all 
the precious materials here described. 

But how can it then be the bride, the Lamb's wife ? An- 
swer: Inspiration has seen fit to speak of it under this figure, 
and with every believer in the Bible, that should be sufficient. 
The figure is first introduced in Isaiah 54. The new-covenant 
city is there brought to view. It is represented as being des- 
olate while the old covenant was in force, and the Lord's care 
was confined to the Jews and old Jerusalem; but it is said 
to her that " the children of the desolate " shall be many more 
than " the children of the married wife." It is further said 
to her, " Thy Maker is thy husband ; " and the closing promise 
of the Lord to this city contains a very similar description to 
the one which we have here in Revelation ; namely, " I will 
lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay thy foundations with 
sapphires; and I will make thy windows of agates, and thy 



CHAPTER 21, VERSES 9 - U 



845 



gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. 
And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord.'' It is 
this very promise to which Paul refers, and upon which he 
comments in his epistle to the Galatians, when he says, " But 
Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us 
all" (Gal. 4: 26) ; for he quotes, in the next verse, this very 
prophecy from the book of Isaiah to sustain this declaration. 
Here, then, Paul makes an inspired application of Isaiah's 
prophecy which cannot be mistaken; and in this he shows that 
under the figure of a " woman," a " wife " whose " children " 
were to be multiplied, the Lord by the prophet speaks of the 
Xew Jerusalem, the city above, as contrasted with the earthly 
J erusalem in the land of Palestine ; and of this city the Lord 
calls himself the " husband." In addition to this, we have 
the positive testimony of the twenty-first chapter of Revela- 
tion to the same facts. 

With this view, all is harmony. Christ is called the Father 
of his people (Isa. 9:6); the Jerusalem above is called our 
mother, and we are called the children ; and, carrying out the 
figure of a marriage, Christ is represented as the Bridegroom, 
the city as the bride, and we, the church, as the guests. There 
is no confusion of parties here. But the popular view, which 
makes the city the church, and the church the bride, exhibits 
the inexcusable confusion of making the church at the same 
time both mother and children, both bride and guests. 

The view that the marriage of the Lamb is the inauguration 
of Christ as King upon the throne of David, and that the par- 
ables of Matt. 22 : 1 - 14; 25 : 1 - 13 ; Luke 12 : 35 - 37 ; 19 : 
12, 13, etc., apply to that event, is further confirmed by a 
well-known ancient custom. It is said that when a person took 
his position as ruler over the people, and was invested with that 
power, it was called a marriage, and the usually accompanying 
feast was called a marriage supper. Dr. Clarke, in his note 
on Matt. 22:2, thus speaks of it: — 

"A marriage for Ms son.'] A marriage feast, so the word 
ya/xovs properly means. Or a feast of inauguration, when his 
son was put in possession of the government, and thus he and 
his new subjects became married together. Many eminent 



S46 



THE REVELATION 



critics so understand this parable as indicating the Father's 
induction of his Son into his Messianic kingdom, (See 1 
Kings 1:5-9, 19, 25, etc., where such a feast is mentioned.)" 
A Christian City. — The names of the twelve apostles in 
the foundations of the city, show it to be a Christian and not 
a Jewish city; while the names of the twelve tribes on the 
gates, show that all the saved, from this dispensation as well 
as from the former, are reckoned as belonging to some one of 
the twelve tribes; for all must enter the city through some 
one of these twelve gates. It is this fact which explains those 
instances in which Christians are called Israel, and are ad- 
dressed as the twelve tribes, as in Rom. 2:28, 29; 9:6-8; 
Gal. 3:29; Eph. 2:12, 13; James 1:1; Rev. 7:4. 

Verse 15. And he that talked with me had a golden reed to meas- 
ure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. 16. And the 
city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and 
he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The 
length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. 17. And he 
measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, ac- 
cording to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel. 18. And the 
building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, 
like unto clear glass. 

The City's Dimensions. — According to this testimony the 
city is laid out in a perfect square, measuring equally on all 
sides. The measure of the city, John declares, was twelve 
thousand furlongs. Twelve thousand furlongs, eight furlongs 
to the mile, equal fifteen hundred English miles. It may be 
understood that this measure is the measure of the whole cir- 
cumference of the city, and not merely of one side. This 
appears, from Kitto, to have been the ancient method of meas- 
uring cities. The whole circumference was taken, and that was 
said to be the measure of the city. According to this rule, the 
New Jerusalem will be three hundred and seventy-five miles 
on each side. The length, breadth, and height of it are equal. 
Erom this language, the question has arisen whether the city 
was as high as it was long and broad. The word rendered 
equal is i'o-os (isos) ; and from the definitions given by Liddell 
and Scott, we learn that it may be used to convey the idea of 
proportion: the height was proportionate to the length and 



CHAPTER 21, VERSES 15 - IS 



847 



breadth. And this idea is strengthened by the fact that the 
wall was only a hundred and forty-fonr cubits high. Taking 
the cubit at about twenty-two inches, the length which is most 
commonly assigned to the ancient cubit, it would give only 
two hundred and sixty-four feet as the height of the wall. 
Now, if the city is just as high as it is long and broad, that 
is, three hundred and seventy-five miles, this wall of less than 
three hundred feet would be, in comparison, a most insignifi- 
cant affair. Probably, therefore, the height of the buildings 
of the city is to be judged of by the height of the wall, which 
is distinctly given. 

The following criticisms on verse 16, the verse which gives 
the dimensions of the heavenly city, are undoubtedly correct : — 

" It has been inferred from the above text that the New 
Jerusalem city is to be as high as it is long, and that its length 
will be twelve thousand furlongs, or fifteen hundred miles. It 
seems to us entirely unnecessary to place such a construction 
upon the language. The word equal does not always mean the 
same as to dimensions or position; it is frequently used in the 
sense of proportion. If we were to say that the length and 
the breadth and the height of the city were in proportion, we 
should not violate the language." This view is taken by 
Jas. Du Pui, A. II., in his Exposition of the Apocalypse. 
The following from Thomas Wicks, author of Lectures on the 
Apocalypse, presents the same idea : " The language, however, 
will bear another meaning, which is far more natural. It is 
not that the length and breadth and height were severally equal 
to each other, but equal with themselves; that is, the length was 
everywhere the same, and the breadth everywhere the same, 
and the height the same. It was perfect and symmetrical in all 
its proportions. This is confirmed by the fact distinctly stated, 
that the wall was one hundred and forty-four cubits high, or 
two hundred and sixteen feet, a proper height for a wall; 
while it is said that c the length is as large as the breadth.' " 
This writer allows but eighteen inches to the cubit. 

The Greek word isos, which is translated equal, will, accord- 
ing to Pickering, bear the meaning of proportion. Greenfield, 
in defining one of its cognate words (isotes), gives to it the 



THE REVELATION 



sense of " equal proportion," and refers to 2 Cor. 8 : 13, 14 

as an example where this definition is quite admissible. 

It would appear, therefore, that the height of the city was 
proportionate to its length and breadth, and not that it was as 
high as it was long. The text certainly admits of this inter- 
pretation ; and this frees the language from all ambiguity, and 
the city from all disproportion, and shows perfect harmony in 
the general description. 

The building of the wall was of jasper. Jasper is a pre- 
cious stone usually described as of " a beautiful bright green 
color, sometimes clouded with white or spotted with yellow. " 
This we understand to be the material of the main body of the 
wall built upon the twelve foundations hereafter described. 
And let it be remembered that this jasper wall was " clear as 
crystal" (verse 11), revealing all the glories within. 

Verse 19. And the foundations of the wall of the city were gar- 
nished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was 
jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an 
emerald; 20. The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, 
chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chryso- 
prasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. 

A Literal City. — If we consider this description exclu- 
sively metaphorical, as is done by the great mass of those who 
profess to be Bible teachers, and spiritualize away this city into 
aerial nothingness, how unmeaning, yea, even bordering upon 
folly, do these minute descriptions appear; but if we take it, 
as it is evidently designed to be understood, in its natural and 
obvious signification, and look upon the city as the Revelator 
evidently designed we should look upon it, as a literal and 
tangible abode, our glorious inheritance, the beauties of which 
we are to look upon with our own eyes, how is the glory of the 
scene enhanced ! 

It is in this light — though it is not for mortal man, of 
himself, to conceive of the grandeur of those things which God 
has prepared for those that love him — that men may delight 
to contemplate the glories of their future abode. We love to 
dwell upon those descriptions which convey to our minds, as 
well as language can do it, an idea of the loveliness and beauty 




Twelfth 
Eleventh 
Tenth 
Ninth 
Eighth 
Seventh 
Sixth 
Fifth 
Fourth 
Third 
Second 
First 



\x wwwwv V \r vv o 



Ametfryst 
Jacinth 
Chrysoprasus 
Topaz 
Beryl 
Chrysolite 
Sardius 
Sardonyx 
Emerald- 
Chalcedony 
Sapphire 
Jasper 



This illustration is not designed to shorn the proportion between the foundation and the wall, but simplg the colors and order ot 
arrangement of the stones romposing the foundation. IDIicn wt consider that the ulort; of (Sod and the Lamb uiill shine through all 
these aim mend tne colors hi dazzling splendor. iue map luell conclude it mill present n scene Df gloro nf uihich no mind can form 
nnc adequate conception 



CHAPTER 21, VERSES 19, 20 



851 



which shall characterize our eternal home. And as we become 
absorbed in the contemplation of an inheritance tangible and 
sure, courage springs up anew, hope revives, faith plumes her 
wings; and with feelings of thanksgiving to God that he has 
placed it within our power to gain an entrance to the mansions 
of the redeemed, we resolve anew, despite the world and all its 
obstacles, that we will be among the sharers in the proffered 
joy. Let us, then, look at the precious foundation stones of 
that great city, through whose gates of pearl God's people may 
hope soon to enter. 

. The Glorious Foundation. — " The word adorned " (gar- 
nished), says Stuart, " may raise a doubt here whether the 
writer means to say that into the various courses of the foun- 
dation ornamental precious stones were only here and there 
inserted; but taking the whole description together, I do not 
apprehend this to have been his meaning. 

" Jasper, as we have seen above, is usually a stone of 
green, transparent color, with red veins ; but there are many 
varieties. 

" Sapphire is a beautiful azure, or sky-blue, color, almost 
as transparent and glittering as a diamond. 

" Chalcedony seems to be a species of agate, or more prop- 
erly the onyx. The onyx of the ancients was probably of a 
bluish white, and semipellucid. 

" The emerald was of a vivid green, and next to the ruby 
in hardness. 

" Sardonyx is a mixture of chalcedony and carnelian, which 
last is of a flesh-color. 

" Sardius is probably the carnelian. Sometimes, however, 
the red is quite vivid. 

" Chrysolite, as its name imports, is of a yellow or gold 
color, and is pellucid. From this was probably taken the con- 
ception of the pellucid gold which constitutes the material of 
the city. 

" Beryl is of a sea-green color. 

" The topaz of the present day seems to be 'reckoned as 
yellow; but that of the ancients appears to have been pale 
green. Plin., 38, 8, Bellermann. Urim et Thummim, p. 37. 



852 



THE REVELATION 



" Chrysoprasus, of a pale yellow and greenish color, like a 
scallion ; sometimes it is classed at the present day under topaz. 

" Hyacinth [jacinth], of a deep red or violet color. 

"Amethyst, a gem of great hardness and brilliancy, of a 
violet color, and usually found in India. 

" In looking over these various classes, we find the first 
four to be of a green or bluish cast; the fifth and sixth, of a 
red or scarlet ; the seventh, yellow ; the eighth, ninth, and tenth, 
of different shades of the lighter green; the eleventh and 
twelfth of a scarlet or splendid red. There is a classification, 
therefore, in this arrangement ; a mixture not dissimilar to the 
arrangement in the rainbow, with the exception that it is more 
complex." 

Verse 21. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several 
gate was .of one pearl ; and the street of the city was pure gold, as it 
were transparent glass. 

The Gates of Pearl. — • Whether we understand that these 
gates were of solid pearl, or whether composed of pearls thickly 
set in . a framework of some other precious material, does not 
materially affect the testimony. If it should be objected that 
it would be contrary to the nature of things to have a pearl 
large enough for a gate, we reply that God is able to produce 
it; the objection simply limits the power of God. But in 
either case the gates would outwardly have the appearance of 
pearl, and in ordinary language would be described as gates 
of pearl. 

The Streets of Burnished Gold. — In this verse, as also in 
verse 18, the city is spoken of as built of gold, pure, like unto 
clear glass, or, as it were, transparent glass. It is not neces- 
sary to conclude from this language that the gold is of itself 
transparent. Take that, for instance, which composes the 
street. If it were really transparent, it would simply permit 
us to look through and behold whatever was beneath the city, 
— the substratum upon which it rested, — a view which cannot 
be anticipated as specially pleasing. But let us suppose the 
golden pavement of the street to be so highly polished as to 
possess perfect powers of reflection, like the truest mirror, and 



CHAPTER 21, VERSES 21-21 85H 

we can see at once that the effect would be grand and striking 
in the extreme. Think for a moment what the appearance of 
a street so paved would be. The gorgeous palaces on either 
side would be reflected beneath, and the boundless expanse of 
the heavens above would also appear below; so that to the 
person walking those golden streets it would appear that both 
himself and the city were suspended between the infinite heights 
above and the unfathomable depths below, while the mansions 
on either side of the street, having equal powers of reflection, 
would marvelously multiply both palaces and people, and con- 
spire to render the whole scene novel, pleasing, beautiful, and 
grand beyond conception. 

Verse 22. And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Al- 
mighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. 

The Living Temple. — With the temple is connected the 
idea of sacrifices and a mediatorial work; but when the city 
is located upon the earth, there will be no such work to be per- 
formed. Sacrifices and offerings, and all mediatorial work 
based thereon, will be forever past; hence there will be no 
need of the outward symbol of such work. But the temple 
in old Jerusalem, besides being a place for sacrificial worship, 
was the beauty and glory of the place ; and as if to anticipate 
the question that might arise as to what would constitute the 
ornament and glory of the new city if there was to be no temple 
therein, the prophet answers, " The Lord God Almighty and 
the Lamb are the temple of it." It appears that there is now 
a temple in the city. Chapter 16 : 17. What becomes of that 
temple when the city comes down, revelation does not inform 
us. Possibly it is removed from the city, or it may be put to 
such a different use as to cease to be the temple of God. 

Verse 23. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the 
moon, to shine in it : for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb 
is the light thereof. 24. And the nations of them which are saved 
shall walk in the light of it : and the kings of the earth do bring their 
glory and honor into it. 25. And the gates of it shall not be shut at 
all by day: for there shall be no night there. 26. And they shall 
bring the glory and honor of the nations into it. 27. And there shall 
in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever 
worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in 
the Lamb's book of life. 



854 



THE REVELATION 



No Night There. — It is in the city alone, probably, that 
there is no night. There will of course be clays and nights in 
the new earth, but they will be days and nights of surpassing 
glory. The prophet, speaking of this time, says, " Moreover, 
the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the 
light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, 
in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people, 
and healeth the stroke of their wound." Isa. 30: 26. But if 
the light of the moon in that state is as the light of the sun, 
how can there be said to be night there ? Answer : The light 
of the sun shall be sevenfold, so that although the night is as 
our day, the day will be sevenfold brighter, making the con- 
trast between day and night there as marked, perhaps, as at 
the present time; but both will be surpassingly glorious. 

Verse 24 speaks of nations and kings. The nations are 
the nations of the saved; and we are all kings, in a certain 
sense, in the new-earth state. We possess a " kingdom," and 
are to " reign " forever and ever. 

But it appears from some of our Saviour's parables, as in 
Matt. 25 : 21, 23, that some will occupy in a special sense the 
position of rulers, and may thus be spoken of as kings of the 
earth in connection with the nations of the saved. These 
bring their glory and honor into the city, when on the Sab- 
baths and new moons they there come up to worship before 
God. Isa. 66: 23. 

Reader, do you want a part in the unspeakable and eternal 
glories of this heavenly city ? See to it, then, that your name 
is written in the Lamb's book of life; for those only whose 
names are on that heavenly " roll of honor " can enter there. 




Verse 1. And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as 
crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2. In 
the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was 
there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded 
her fruit every month : and the leaves of the tree were for the healing 
of the nations. 

THE angel continues to show John the wonderful things 
of the city of God. In the midst of the street of the 
city was the tree of life. 
The Broad Street. — Although the word street is here used in 
the singular number, with the definite article the before it, 
it is not supposed that there is but one street in the city; for 
there are twelve gates, and there must of course be a street 
leading to each gate. But the street here spoken of is the 
street by way of distinction; it is the main street, or, as the 
original word signifies, the broad way, the great avenue. 

The River of Life. — The tree of life is in the midst of 
this street; but the tree of life is on either side of the river 
of life ; hence the river of life is also in the midst of the street 
of the city. This river proceeds from the throne of God. The 
picture thus presented before the mind is this: The glorious 
throne of God at the head of this broad way, or avenue; out of 
that throne the river of life, flowing lengthwise through the 
center of the street; and the tree of life growing on either 
side, forming a high and magnificent arch over that majestic 
stream, and spreading its life-bearing branches far away on 
either hand. How broad this broad street is, we have no 

(855) 



856 



THE REVELATION 



means of determining; but it will be at once perceived that 
a city three hundred and seventy-five miles from side to side 
in either direction, would be able to devote quite an ample 
space to its great avenue. 

A very natural conception of the arrangement of the streets 
of the city would be that shown in the accompanying diagram ; 
namely, the throne in the center, and a grand avenue in which 
is the river of life and the tree of life extending out in four 

directions to the wall 
of the city on all of 
its four sides. This 
would give all corre- 
sponding parts of the 
city equal access to 
the grand avenue. 
It would also furnish 
opportunity for one 
magnificent gate in 
the center of each 
side of the city, open- 
ing upon the grand 
avenue. The length 
of each of these four 
branches of the ave- 
nue ( depending of 
course on how much space is allotted to the throne) would 
be at least some one hundred and eighty miles. It may be 
said that this is carrying speculation a degree too far. Per- 
haps it is. But it is assumed that those who hope soon to 
enter into that city, will not be averse to a little innocent 
speculation in that direction. 

The Tree of Life. — But how can the tree of life be but one 
tree, and still be on either side of the river ? 1. It is evi- 
dent that there is but one tree of life. From Genesis to 
Revelation it is spoken of as but one — the tree of life. 2. 
To be at once on both sides of the river, it must have more 
than one trunk, in which case it must be united at the top . 
or in its upper branches, in order to form but one tree. John, 



/y 




Diagram Showing Plan of the New Jerusalem 
" The city Ueth foursquare." 



CHAPTER 22, VERSES 1, 2 



859 



caught away in the Spirit, and presented with a minute view 
of this wonderful object, says that it was on either side of the 
river. Another who has been privileged to behold in vision 
the marvelous glories of the heavenly land, has borne similar 
testimony : " We all marched in, and felt that we had a per- 
fect right in the city. Here we saw the tree of life and the 
throne of God. Out of the throne came a pure river of water, 
and on either side of the river was the tree of life. At first 
I thought I saw two trees. I looked again, and saw that they 
were united at the top in one tree. So it was the tree of life 
on either side of the river of life; its branches bowed to the 
place where we stood; and the fruit was glorious, which looked 
like gold mixed with silver." — Experience and Views, pp. 
12, 13. And why should such a tree be looked upon as un- 
natural or impossible, since we have an illustration of it here 
upon earth ? The banyan tree of India is of precisely the 
same nature in this respect. Of this tree the Encyclopedia 
Americana thus speaks: " The ficus Indica (Indian fig, or 
banyan tree) has been celebrated from antiquity from its let- 
ting its branches drop and take root in the earth, which in 
their turn become trunks, and give out other branches, a single 
tree thus forming a little forest." In just this way the tree 
of life could extend and support itself. 

The tree of life bears twelve kinds of fruit, and yields its 
fruit every month. This fact throws light upon the declara- 
tion in Isa. 66: 23, that all flesh shall come up " from one 
new moon to another " to worship before the Lord of hosts. 
The words new moon should be rendered month. The Hebrew 
has tS^lH (hhodesli), the second definition of which Gesenius 
gives as " a month." The Septuagmt has Ik fiyvos (men 
eh menos) " from month to month." The redeemed come up 
to the holy city from month to month to partake of the fruit 
of the tree of life. Its leaves are for the healing of the na- 
tions; literally, the service of the nations. This cannot be 
understood as implying that any will enter the city in a dis- 
eased or deformed condition to need healing; for then the 
conclusion would follow that there will always be persons there 
in that condition, as we have no reason to understand that the 



860 



THE REVELATION 



service of the leaves, whatever it is, will not be perpetual, 
like the use of the fruit ; but the idea of disease and deformity 
in the immortal state is contrary to the express declarations 
of other scriptures. 

Verse 3. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of 
God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him. 

This language proves that the great God, the Father, is 
referred to, as well as the Son. The marks of the curse, the 
deadly miasma, and the ghastly scenes of desolation and decay, 
will no more be seen on the earth. Every breeze will be 
balmy and life-giving, every scene beauty, and every sound 
music. 

Verse 4. And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in 
their foreheads. 

The word his, in the sentence, "And they shall see his 
face," refers to the Father; for he is the one whose name is in 
their foreheads ; and that it is the Father, we learn from chap- 
ter 14 : 1. This will be a fulfilment of the promise in Matt. 
5:8, " Blessed are the pure in heart ; for they shall see God." 

Verse 5. And there shall be no night there; and they need no 
candle, neither light of the sun ; for the Lord God giveth them light : 
and they shall reign forever and ever. 6. And he said unto me, These 
sayings are faithful and true : and the Lord God of the holy prophets 
sent his angel to show unto his servants the things which must shortly 
be done. 7. Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the 
sayings of the prophecy of this book. 

Here, again, we have the declaration that there shall be no 
night in the city; for the Lord God will be the light of the 
place. Verse 1 proves that Christ is the speaker, a fact which 
it is of especial importance to bear in mind in connection with 
verse 14. To keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book 
is to obey the duties brought to view in connection with the 
prophecy, as, for instance, in chapter 14:9-12. 

Verse 8. And I John saw these things, and heard them And 
when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet 
of the angel which showed me these things. 9. Then saith he unto 
me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellow servant, and of thy 
brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this 



CHAPTER 22, VERSES 8 - 12 



861 



book: worship God. 10. And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings 
of the prophecy of this book : for the time is at hand. 11. He that is 
unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be 
filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and 
he that is holy, let him be holy still. 12. And, behold, I come quickly ; 
and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work 
shall be. 

(For remarks on verse 9, see on chapter 19 : 10.) In verse 
10 John is told not to seal the sayings of the prophecy of this 
book. The popular theology of our day says that the book 
is sealed. One of two things follows from this : either John 
disobeyed his instructions, or the theology above referred to 
is fulfilling Isa. 29 : 10 - 14. . Verse 11 proves that probation 
closes, and the cases of all are unalterably fixed, before the 
coming of Christ ; for in the very next verse Christ says, " Be- 
hold, I come quickly." What dangerous and insane presump- 
tion, then, to claim, as age-to-come believers clo, that there will 
be probation even after that event! Christ's reward is with 
him, to give every man as his work shall be, which is another 
conclusive proof that there can be no probation after that 
event ; for all the living wicked, those " who know not God," 
the heathen, and those " who obey not the gospel of the Lord 
Jesus Christ," the sinners of Christian lands (2 Thess. 1: 8), 
will be visited with swift destruction from Him who then 
comes in flaming fire to take vengeance on his foes. 

The declaration of verse 11 marks the close of probation, 
which is the close of Christ's work as mediator. But we are 
taught by the subject of the sanctuary that this wwk closes 
with the examination of the cases of the living in the investi- 
gative judgment. When this is accomplished, the irrevocable 
fiat can be pronounced. But when the cases of the living are 
reached in the work of judgment, w T e apprehend that what 
remains to be done will be so speedily accomplished that all 
these cases may almost be said to be decided simultaneously. 
We have therefore no occasion to speculate as to the order of 
work among the living; that is, wdiose cases will be decided 
first, and whose last, nor w T hether or not it will be known that 
any are decided before all is finished. 



862 



THE REVELATION 



Verse 13. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the 
first and the last. 14. Blessed are they that do his commandments, 
that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through 
the gates into the city. 

Christ here applies to himself the appellation of Alpha and 
Omega. As applied to him, the expression must be taken in a 
more limited sense than when applied to the Father, as in chap- 
ter 1 : 8. Christ is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and 
the end, of the great plan of salvation. Verse 14, as before 
noticed, is the language of Christ. The commandments of 
which he speaks are his Father's. Reference can be had only 
to the ten commandments as delivered on Mount Sinai. He 
pronounces a blessing upon those who keep them. Thus in the 
closing chapter of the word of God, and near the very close of 
the last testimony which the faithful and true Witness there 
left for his people, he solemnly pronounces a blessing upon 
those who keep the commandments of God. Let those who 
believe in the abolition of the law, candidly consider the de- 
cisive bearing of this important fact. 

Instead of the reading, " Blessed are they that do bis com- 
mandments," some translations, including the Revised Version, 
have, " Blessed are they that wash their robes." On this point 
Afford' s Testament for English Readers has this note : " The 
difference in the readings is curious, being in the original that 
between poiountes tas entolas autou, and plunontes tas stolas 
auton, either of which might easily be mistaken for the other." 
In view of this statement, it is not surprising, perhaps, that 
this difference of reading is found. But there seems to be 
good evidence that the first is the original, from which the 
latter is a variation by the error of transcribers. Thus the 
Syriac New Testament, one of the very earliest translations 
from the original Greek, reads according to the common 
English version. And Cyprian, whose writings antedate any 
extant Greek manuscript (Ante-Nicene Library, Vol. XIII, 
p. 122), quotes the text as reading, " Blessed are they that do 
his commandments." We may therefore safely consider this 
as the genuine reading. 



CHAPTER 22, VERSES 15 - 17 



863 



Verse 15. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, 
and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. 

Dog is the Bible symbol of a shameless and impudent man. 
Who would wish to be left in the company of those whose lot 
is outside of the city of God ? yet how many wull stand con- 
demned as idolaters, how many as those who make lies, and 
how many more as those who love them, and love to circulate 
them after they are made ! 

Verse 16. I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these 
things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, 
and the bright and morning star. 

Jesus testifies these things in the churches, showing that 
the whole book of Revelation is given to the seven churches, 
which is another incidental proof that the seven churches are 
representatives of the church through the entire gospel dispen- 
sation. Christ is the offspring of David, in that he appeared 
on earth in the line of David's descendants. He is the root of 
David, inasmuch as he is the great prototype of David, and 
the maker and upholder of all things. 

Verse 17. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him 
that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And 
whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. 

Thus are all invited to come. The Lord's love for mankind 
would not be satisfied in merely preparing the blessings of 
eternal life, opening the way to them, and announcing that 
all might come who would; but he sends out an earnest invita- 
tion to come. He sets it forth as a favor done to himself if 
persons will come and partake of the infinite blessings provided 
by his infinite love. His invitation, how gracious ! how full ! 
how free ! Xone of those who are finally lost will ever have 
occasion to complain that the provisions made for their salva- 
tion were not sufficiently ample. They can never reasonably 
object that the light given to show them the w T ay of life was not 
sufficiently clear. They can never excuse themselves on the 
ground that the invitations and entreaties that Mercy has given 
them to turn and live, were not sufficiently full and free. From 
the very beginning, there has been a pow T er exerted as strong 



864 



THE REVELATION 



as could be exerted and still leave man his own free agent, — a 
power to draw him heavenward, and raise him from the abyss 
into which he has fallen. Come ! has been the entreaty of the 
Spirit from the lips of God himself, from the lips of his proph- 
ets, from the lips of his apostles, and from the lips of his Son, 
even while, in his infinite compassion and humility, he was 
paying the debt of our transgression. 

The last message of mercy as it is now going forth, is 
another and final utterance of divine long-suffering and com- 
passion. Come, is the invitation it gives. Come, for all things 
are ready. And the last sound that will fall from Mercy's lips 
on the ear of the sinner ere the thunders of vengeance burst 
upon him, will be the heavenly invitation, Come. So great is 
the loving-kindness of a merciful God to rebellious man. Yet 
they will not come. Acting independently and deliberately, 
they refuse to come. So when they shall see Abraham, Isaac, 
and Jacob in the kingdom of God, and themselves thrust out, 
they will have no one to accuse, no one to blame, but their own 
selves. They will be brought to feel this in all its bitterness; 
for the time will come when Pollok's thrilling description of 
the condemnation of the lost will be true to the letter: — 

" And evermore the thunders murmuring spoke 
From out the darkness, uttering loud these words, 
Which every guilty conscience echoed, back : 

'Ye knew your duty, but ye did it not.' 
Dread words ! that barred excuse, and threw the weight 
Of every man's perdition on himself 
Directly home — 

e Ye knew your duty, but ye did it not.' " 

The bride also says, Come. But the bride is the city, and 
how does that say, Come ? If we could be strengthened to 
behold the living glories of that city and live, and should be 
permitted to gaze upon its dazzling beauty, and be assured that 
we had a perfect right to enter therein, and bathe in that ocean 
of bliss and blessedness, and revel in its glory forever and 
ever, would it not then say to us, Come, with a persuasion 
which no power could resist ? Who of us, in view of this, 
could turn away, and say, I have no desire for an inheritance 
there '? 




VISIONS OF BEAUTY ARE THERE, FIELDS OF LIVING GREEN " 



CHAPTER 22, VERSE 17 



867 



But though we cannot now look upon that city, the unfail- 
ing word of God has promised it, and that is sufficient to inspire 
us with implicit and living faith; and through the channel of 
that faith it says to us, Come. Come, if you would inherit 
mansions where sickness, sorrow, pain, and death can never 
enter ; if you would have a right to the tree of life, and pluck 
its immortal fruit, and eat and live ; if you would drink of the 
water of the river of life, that flows from the throne of God, 
clear as crystal. Come, if you would obtain through those glit- 
tering gates of pearl an abundant entrance into the eternal city; 
if you would walk its streets of transparent gold ; if you would 
behold its glowing foundation stones ; if you would see the King 
in his beauty on his azure throne. Come, if you would sing the 
jubilee song of millions, and share their joy. Come, if you 
would join the anthems of the redeemed with their melodious 
harps, and know that your exile is forever over, and this is your 
eternal home. Come, if you would receive a palm of victory, 
and know that you are forever free. Come, if, you would ex- 
change the furrows of your care-worn brow for a jeweled crown. 
Come, if you would see the salvation of the ransomed myriads, 
the glorified throng which no man can number. Come, if you 
would drink from the pure fountain of celestial bliss, if you 
would shine as the stars forever in the firmament of glory, if 
you would share in the unutterable rapture that fills the trium- 
phant hosts as they behold before them unending ages of glory 
ever brightening and joys ever new. 

The bride does say, Come. Who of us can resist the invi- 
tation % The word of truth is pledged to us that if we keep the 
commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, we shall have 
right to the tree of life, we shall enter in through the gates 
into the city. And we shall feel that we are at home in our 
Father's house, the very mansions prepared for us, and realize 
the full truth of the cheering words, " Blessed are they which 
are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb." Rev. 19 : 9. 

" Let him that heareth say, Come." We have heard of the 
glory, of the beauty, of the blessings, of that goodly land, and 
we say, Come. We have heard of the river with its verdant 
banks, of the tree with its healing leaves, of the ambrosial 



868 



THE REVELATION 



bowers that bloom in the Paradise of God, and we say, Come. 
Whosoever will, let him come, and take of the water of life 
freely. 

Verse 18. For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of 
the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, 
God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 
19. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of 
this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, 
and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in 
this book. 

What is it to add to, or take from, the book of this proph- 
ecy ? Let it be borne in mind that it is the book of this 
prophecy, or the Revelation, which is the subject of remark; 
hence the words concerning adding to or taking from have 
exclusive reference to this book. Nothing can be called an 
addition to this book except something added to it with the 
intention of having it considered as a genuine part of the 
book of Revelation. To take from the book would be to sup- 
press some portion of it. As the book of Revelation could 
not be called an addition to the book of Daniel, so if God 
should see fit to make further revelations to us by his Spirit, 
it would be no addition to the book of Revelation, unless it 
should claim to be a part of that book. 

Verse 20. He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come 
quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. 21. The grace of our 
Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. 

The word of God is given to instruct us in reference to the 
plan of salvation. The second coming of Christ is to be the 
climax and completion of that great scheme. It is most appro- 
priate, therefore, that the book should close with the solemn 
announcement, " Surely I come quickly." Be it ours to join 
with fervent hearts in the response of the apostle, "Amen. 
Even so, come, Lord Jesus." 

Thus closes the volume of inspiration, — closes with that 
which constitutes the best of all promises, and the substance 
of the Christian's hope — the return of Christ. Then shall the 
elect be gathered, and bid a long farewell to all the ills of this 
mortal life, How rich in all that is precious to the Christian 



CHAPTER 22, TERSE 20 



869 



is this promise ! Wandering an exile in this evil world, sepa- 
rated from the few of like precious faith, he longs for the com- 
panionship of the righteous, the communion of saints. Here 
he shall obtain it ; for all the good shall be gathered, not from 
one land only, bnt from all lands; not from one age only, but 
from all ages, — the great harvest of all the good, coming np in 
long and glorious procession, while angels shout the harvest 
home, and the timbrels of heaven sound forth in joyous con- 
cert ; and a song before unheard, unknown, in the universe, 
the song of the redeemed, shall add its marvelous notes of 
rapture and melody to the universal jubilee. So shall the 
saints be gathered, to be joyful in each other's presence for- 
ever and ever,— 

" While the glory of God, like a molten sea, 
Bathes the immortal company." 

This gathering has nothing in it but that which is desirable. 
The saints can but sigh and pray for it. Like Job, they cry out 
for the presence of God. Like David, they cannot be satisfied 
till they awake in his likeness. In this mortal condition we 
groan, being burdened, not for that we would be unclothed, 
but clothed upon. We can but be " upon tiptoe " for the 
adoption, to wit, the redemption of the body. Our eyes are 
open for its visions, our ears are waiting to catch the sounds of 
the heavenly music, and our hearts are beating in anticipation 
of its infinite joy. Our appetites are growing sharp for the 
marriage supper. We cry out for the living God, and long to 
come into his presence. Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly. 
Xo news more welcome than the announcement that the com- 
mand has gone forth from the Lord to his angels, Gather 
together unto me my elect from the four winds of heaven. 

The place of gathering has nothing but attraction. Jesus, 
the fairest among ten thousand, is there. The throne of God 
and the Lamb, in the glory of which the sun disappears as the 
stars vanish in the light of day, is there. The city of jasper 
and gold, whose builder and maker is God, is there. The 
river of life, sparkling with the glory of God and flowing from 
his throne in infinite purity and peace, is there. The tree of 



870 



THE REVELATION 



life, with its healing leaves and life-giving fruit, is there. 
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Noah, Job, and Daniel, prophets, 
apostles, and martyrs, the perfection of heavenly society, will 
be there. Visions of beauty are there; fields of living green, 
flowers that never fade, streams that never dry, products in 
variety that never ends, fruits that never decay, crowns that 
never dim, harps that know no discord, and all else of which 
a taste purified from sin and raised to the plane of immortality, 
can form any conception or think desirable, will be there. 

We must be there. We must bask in the forgiving smiles 
of God, to whom we have become reconciled, and sin no more; 
we must have access to that exhaustless fount of vitality, the 
fruit of the tree of life, and never die; we mttst repose under 
the shadow of its leaves, which are for the service of the 
nations, and never again grow weary; Ave must drink from 
the life-giving fountain, and thirst nevermore ; we must bathe 
in its silvery spray, and be refreshed; we must walk on its 
golden sands, and feel that we are no longer exiles ; we must 
exchange the cross for the crown, and feel that the days of 
our humiliation are ended; we must lay down the staff and 
take the palm branch, and feel that the journey is done; we 
must put off the rent garments of our warfare for the white 
robes of triumph, and feel that the conflict is ended and the 
victory gained; we must exchange the toil-worn, dusty girdle 
of our pilgrimage for the glorious vesture of immortality, and 
feel that sin and the curse can never more pollute us. O day 
of rest and triumph, and every good, delay not thy dawning! 
Let the angels at once be sent to gather the elect. Let the prom- 
ise be fulfilled which bears in its train these matchless glories. 
EVEN SO, COME, LORD JESUS. 



APPENDIX 



1. — RESEMBLANCE BETWEEN OUR TIMES AND THE 
FRENCH REVOLUTION. 

N the books both of Daniel and the Revelation distinct reference 
is made to that abnormal national experience known as " The 
French Revolution." (See Dan. 11 : 36 - 39 ; Rev. 11 : 7 - 10.) The 
time when the principles of irreligion and infidelity were given 
full opportunity to bud and blossom and bear fruit, that all the world 
might judge of their nature; when men were left to show to what 
deeds of darkness the carnal heart would lead, unrestrained by any 
principles of righteousness and truth, was most appropriately noted 
in prophecy. And the descriptions given of the character of the last 
days by the same pen of inspiration, are such as to show that the 
masses will then fall, to a large extent, if not wholly, under the same 
principles of evil. While such is the representation of prophecy, 
it is a serious question in many minds whether the preliminary stages 
of this condition of things are not already appearing before our eyes, 
and if we may not now be on the threshold of one of those eras 
wherein " history repeats itself " in its worst forms. 

Those who entertain the sentiments concerning the nature of our 
times set forth in some portions of this work, are often charged with 
being pessimists, alarmists, and looking too much on the dark side of 
the picture. To the charge of being alarmists in the bad sense of 
that term, we do not plead guilty. While there may be such a thing 
as imagining evils which do not exist, and anticipating trouble which 
never comes, there is, on the other hand, such a thing as crying, 
" Peace, peace," when there is no peace, and shutting our eyes to real 
danger till it is too late to guard against it, and we find ourselves in- 
volved in irretrievable calamity and loss. The wisest of men has 
said, "A prudent man foreseeth the evil, a,nd hideth himself; but the 
simple pass on, and are punished." Prov. 22 : 3. Noah was not an 
alarmist when he warned the world of the approaching catastrophe 
of the flood ; nor Lot, when he warned the Sodomites that an all- 
devastating storm of fire was hanging over their doomed city; nor 
our Lord, when he foretold the utter destruction of Jerusalem, and 
gave his people directions how to escape it. Let us not be diverted 
from the real situation by the cry of " alarmist," nor think that there 
can be no danger because all do not see it; for St. Paul has warned 

(871) 



872 



APPENDIX 



us that " when they shall say, Peace and safety ; then sudden destruc- 
tion cometh upon them." 1 Thess. 5:3. 

But we need offer no apology for ourselves in this particular; for 
the strongest utterances we put on record are simply those we find in 
the secular press of the day. Even so cautious a paper as the Chicago 
Evening Journal, in its issue of Aug. 26, 1874, under the heading 
" The Reign of Crime," drew the following picture of the times, 
which no one can say have been growing better since that time : — 

" If Mr. Beecher used to be rather soft on the doctrine of ' total 
depravity/ we suspect he may have got more light on this point by 
this time. But Brooklyn does not by any means monopolize the il- 
lustrative evidence of it. Crimes of all sorts and sizes seem just now 
to be ' breaking out/ like the measles, all over the body social. The 
newspapers, if they give the news at all, have to be darkened with the 
wretched records of misdoings. We confess that the dailies at the 
present time are not so cheerful reading as might be. Suicides, mur- 
der, and the whole catalogue of offenses against God and man, are 
startlingly prevalent. Is it symptomatic of some great social dis- 
ease, the seeds of which have long been growing, but long hidden? 
Is there some malign moral miasma in the air, some taint in the 
blood, some great, though subtle, popular error that has been silently 
conceiving sin, and is at last bringing forth iniquity? Or is it only 
a kind of spiritual contagion, or epidemic, like the epizootic, for in- 
stance, among animals, tha*t has somehow got started, and is sweeping 
across the continent? 

" Such questions are full of significance, even if not easily an- 
swered. The philosophy of epidemical influences in society is better 
understood than it was a generation ago; but we suspect the subject 
is far from being cleared up yet. We need more light, both as to the 
incipient causes and the concomitant conditions which allow such 
alarming potency to causes that seemed to be latent, until, all at 
once, they break forth, as if thousands had suddenly taken to the 
habit of carrying loose powder and matches in the same pocket. 'As 
a man thinketh in his heart, so is he/ Is it, then, that somehow 
communities get to thinking of the same ill things, and the bad 
thought becomes a tempting suggestion, and forthwith begins to work 
in the heart like a spark of an old-fashioned tinder-box? • If so, one 
scarcely dares to think of the frightful consequences that may come 
of this Brooklyn scandal-sowing throughout the land." 

While this extract speaks of our own land, there is testimony to 
show that an equally alarming state of things prevails in Europe. 
As a representative statement upon this point, we quote from the dis- 
tinguished and devoted J. H. Merle D'Aubigne, author of the History 
of the Reformation, who, just previous to his death, prepared a paper 
for the Evangelical Alliance, which was read at a meeting of that 
association. All thoughtful persons will consider his words most 
solemn, and his statements as startling as they are true: — 

" If the meeting for which you are assembled is an important one, 
the period at which it is held is equally so, not only on account of the 
great things which God is accomplishing in the world, but also by 



APPENDIX 



873 



reason of the great evils which the spirit of darkness is spreading 
throughout Christendom. The despotic and arrogant pretensions of 
Rome have reached in our days their highest pitch, and we are con- 
sequently more than ever called upon to contend against that power 
which dares to usurp the divine attributes. But that is not all. 
While superstition has increased, unbelief has done so still more. 
Until now, the eighteenth century — the age of Voltaire — was re- 
garded as the epoch of most decided infidelity; but how far does the 
present time surpass it in this respect ! Voltaire himself protested 
against the philosophy which he called atheistic, and said, ' God is 
necessarily the Great, the Only, the Eternal Artificer of all nature ' 
(Dialogues, xxv). But the pretended philosophers of our day leave 
such ideas far behind, and regard them as antiquated superstitions. 
Materialism and atheism have, in many minds, taken the place of the 
true God. Science, which was Christian in the brightest intellects 
of former days, in those to whom we owe the greatest discoveries, has 
become atheistic among men who now talk the loudest. They imag- 
ine that by means of general laws which govern the physical world, 
they can do without Him from whom these laws proceeded. Some 
remains of animals found in ancient strata of our globe, make them 
reject the creation of which the Bible inaugurates the account in these 
solemn words : ' In the beginning God created the heaven and the 
earth.' 

" Eminent literary men continually put forward in their writings 
what is called Positivism, rejecting everything that goes beyond the 
limit of the senses, and disdaining all that is supernatural. These 
evils, which had formerly only reached the upper ranks of society, 
have now spread to the working classes, and some among them may be 
heard to say, 1 When man is dead, all is dead.' But there is a still 
sadder feature of our times. Unbelief has reached even the ministry 
of the word. Pastors belonging to Protestant churches in France, 
Switzerland, Germany, and other continental countries, not only re- 
ject the fundamental doctrines of the faith, but also deny the resur- 
rection of Jesus Christ, and see in him nothing more than a man, 
who, according to many of them, was even subject to errors and 
faults. A synod of the Reformed Church in Holland has lately de- 
creed that when a minister baptizes, he need not do it in the name of 
the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. A journal, when re- 
lating this fact, adds, ' Will they then baptize in the God abyss ? ' 
At an important assembly held lately in German Switzerland, at which 
were present many men of position both in the church and the state, 
the basis of the new religion was laid down. ' No doctrines,' was the 
watchword on that occasion. ' No new doctrines, whatever they may 
be, in place of the old ; liberty alone,' which means liberty to overthrow 
everything. And too truly some of those ministers believe neither in 
a personal God nor in the immortality of the soul. For a portion of 
the European population there is no other gospel than that of Spin- 
oza, and often much less even than that." 

Such words from such a source should cause the most thoughtless 
to pause and consider. Mark the expressions : The spirit of darkness 
55 



874 



APPENDIX 



spreading through Christendom, superstition and unbelief increasing, 
the present age far surpassing that of Voltaire in infidelity, atheism 
taking the place of God, science becoming atheistic, eminent literary 
men teaching Positivism; the masses becoming pervaded with these 
ideas, and even Protestant ministers denying the fundamental facts 
of the gospel, — these are the prominent features of the times. 

Professor J. Cairus, D. D., of Berwick, England, draws the fol- 
lowing picture of the present generation : " The advance, so rapid and 
wonderful, of science and art, and the progress of education and the 
diffusion of literature; the self-assertion, by long-oppressed nationali- 
ties, of their rights and liberties; the approximation to a commercial 
and political unity of the human race, — all tend to foster the idea 
of man's inherent capacity, and to set afloat wild and chimerical 
schemes and hopes of moral regeneration, irrespective of Christianity. 
The dream of independent morality finds countenance. Theories of 
spiritual development, more exaggerated and fictitious by far than 
these of physical development, are accepted. The march of intelli- 
gence, or the revolutionary impulse, is to make all things new. 
Meanwhile, the sad and humbling aspects of the nineteenth century 
— its hideous vices and crimes, its luxury, selfishness, and greed set 
over against pauperism, debasement, and discontent ; its wars and 
international feuds, with ever-increasing conscriptions and standing 
armies — are overlooked." 

Hon. Geo. H. Stuart, of Philadelphia, thus spoke before the Alli- 
ance : " The field is the world. It has in it 1,300,000,000 immortal 
souls, destined to meet us at the judgment bar of God. Of these 
1,300,000,000, there are some 800,000,000 bowing down to stocks and 
stones, the workmanship of their own hands. Besides these 800,000,- 
000 heathen, there are 110,000,000 Mohammedans and 240,000,000 of 
other false systems of religion, leaving only 100,000,000 nominal Prot- 
estants. It is not for us to say how many of these 100,000,000 are 
true disciples of our risen and exalted Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." 

Sad indeed is the view here presented; and is it not every year 
growing worse ? Students of prophecy are sometimes looked upon as 
fanatics, because they believe that the second advent of Christ is 
soon to take place, when all the wicked will be destroyed and the 
righteous saved. But we ask the candid reader whether the man, 
who, in the face of all the facts above stated, believes in the speedy 
conversion of the whole world and the near approach of the millen- 
nium, may not more justly be regarded as a fanatic. While a few 
thousand pagans in heathen lands are receiving the gospel, millions 
in Christian lands are turning away from it, and embracing false 
religions and atheism; and among these we find the educated, the 
scientific, the so-called higher classes taking the lead. But this need 
not surprise us ; for Jesus himself said respecting the last days, " Nev- 
ertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the 
earth?" Luke 18:8. 

From this general description, let us come to particulars. Every 
student of history understands that like causes produce like effects, 
and that indications which foretokened the occurrence of certain 



APPENDIX 



875 



events in one age, will generally reappear when similar events are 
about to transpire in any other age. As in the natural world there 
must be the gathering of clouds and the accumulation of electricity 
before the storm, so in the moral and political world there must be 
the dissemination of principles, the formulation of ideas, and the 
rousing of passions, before the revolution. Causes which in the past 
have led to anarchy, rapine, license, and a general disintegration of 
society, will, if permitted to operate, produce again the same results. 
The French Revolution of 1789 - 1800 stands fixed in history as the 
" Reign of Terror." Each succeeding faction which gained power 
during that awful era shed in torrents the blood of its enemies, until 
over 2,000,000 lives were sacrificed. All social order was destroyed. 
The marriage covenant was abrogated, and lust stalked abroad every- 
where, licensed and unrestrained. Christ was declared an impostor, 
and his religion a fraud. The existence of God was denied, and the 
reading of his word forbidden. All this was the work of infidelity. 
Behold, therefore, in that terrible Revolution, the miniature of the 
world without the restraining influence of God's revelation. And is 
there danger that this frightful condition of things may be repro- 
duced in our own day ? Facts constrain us to answer in the affirma- 
tive; for the same causes are operating everywhere to-day which a 
hundred years ago were at work in France. The same names and 
principles may be heard and seen all about us. Let us first notice 
some of the more prominent elements which produced the French 
Revolution. 

1. Spiritualism. — Says Samuel Smucker in his Memorable Scenes 
in French History, p. 116 : " We find in the records of that period, 
materials and events which prove that then it was that the impostures 
of modern spiritual rappers and mediums were first practiced, in 
precisely the same way and for the same results as they are at the 
present day. . . . Count Cagliostro enabled Cardinal Rohan to sup 
with the deceased D'Alembert, with the king of Prussia, and with 
Voltaire, all dead some years before. He convinced His Eminence 
that the worker of these wonders had himself been present with Christ 
at the marriage in Cana of Galilee. ... In the triumphs of, Cagli- 
ostro, of Misner, and of St. Germain, which at this period were at 
their greatest height, we behold another instance of the uprooting 
of the firm and stable foundations of society in an excessive desire 
for novelties, and a restless itching after things new, mysterious, 
and wonderful." 

As a system of pretended communication with the dead, Spirit- 
ualism, is as old, at least, as the Mosaic dispensation, for it was 
strictly forbidden in his day; and it has at favorable epochs mani- 
fested itself among men; but its wonder-working phase is peculiar to 
modern times, and first manifested itself in this country, according 
to the prophecy of Revelation 13. Its principles and spirit found 
congenial soil in France in the Revolution. But if what then ap- 
peared contributed in any manner to produce the state of society 
which then existed, what must be its tendency to-day? 



876 



APPENDIX 



2. Infidelity. — Mr. Anderson, in The Annals of the English Bible, 
p. 494, says : " Never let it be forgotten that before the Revolution of 
1792, the promoters of infidelity in France are stated to have raised 
among themselves, and spent, a sum equal to £900,000 in one year, — 
nay, again and again, — in purchasing, printing, and dispersing books 
to corrupt the minds of the people and prepare them for desperate 
measures." 

Dr. Dick, in his work on The Improvement of Society, p. 154, 
says : " The way for such a revolution was prepared by the writings 
of Voltaire, Mirabeau, Diderot, Helvetius, D'Alembert, Condorcet, 
Rousseau, and others of the same stamp, in which they endeavored 
to disseminate principles subversive both of natural and revealed re- 
ligion. Revelation was not only impugned, but entirely set aside. 
The Deity was banished from the universe, and an imaginary phan- 
tom, under the name of the Goddess of Reason, substituted in his 
place. The carved work of all religious belief and moral practice 
was boldly cut down by Carnot and Robespierre and their atheisti- 
cal associates. Nature was investigated by pretended philosophers, 
only with the view to darken the mind, and prevent mankind from 
considering anything as real but what the hand could grasp or the 
corporeal eye perceive." 

The infidelity of to-day, in many respects, according to the quo- 
tation from D'Aubigne, leaves that of France at the time of the Revo- 
lution far behind. 

3. Socialism. — Webster makes this word synonymous with " com- 
munism," which he defines as follows : " The reorganizing of society, 
or the doctrine that it should be reorganized, by regulating property, 
industry, and the sources of livelihood, and also the domestic rela- 
tions and social morals of mankind ; socialism, especially the doctrine 
of a community of property, or the negation of individual rights in 
property." 

These principles were carried into practice in France, and as the 
result the Revolution blossomed into all its horrid reality. The re- 
lations of the different classes of society were completely changed. 
The monarchy was overthrown, and an infidel republic established 
on its ruins. The king and queen were beheaded. 

Alison, Vol. IV, p. 151, says : " The confiscation of two thirds of 
the landed property in the kingdom, which arose from the decrees of 
the convention against the emigrants, clergy, and persons convicted 
at the revolutionary tribunals, . . . placed funds worth above £700,- 
000,000 sterling at the disposal of the government." 

Titles of nobility were abolished. It was a conflict between the 
rich and the poor, between capital and labor. The motto of the 
Revolution was, " Liberty, Equality, Fraternity " — blessed words, 
but, with the strangest inconsistency, wholly outraged and misap- 
plied. The same principles are treated in the same way to-day, and 
are shouted as the watchword among the discontented masses and 
the labor organizations the world over. The principles of socialism, 
or communism, were probably never so widely diffused as at the pres- 
ent time. 



APPENDIX 



877 



4. Free Love. — When the existence of the true God was denied, 
as it was during the French Revolution, and in his place men set up 
a lewd woman as the Goddess of Reason, and the object of their high- 
est adoration, it was a natural consequence that the sacredness of the 
marriage relation should be wholly discarded. Marriage was there- 
fore declared a civil contract, binding only during the pleasure of 
the contracting parties. Divorce became general, and the corruption 
of manners reached a height never before known in France. One 
half of the whole number of births in Paris were illegitimate. See 
Thiers's French Revolution, Vol. II, p. 380. Free-lovism is an inte- 
gral part of the spiritualistic movement of our day, not so openly 
advocated as formerly, but none the less cherished and practiced as a 
part of the boasted " freedom " to which the human race is attaining. 

5. The Commune. — This word is derived from a small territorial 
district in France governed by an officer called a mayor. It has come 
to have a much more extensive application at the present time; but 
the origin of the word is not so important as the principles which it 
is taken to represent. Of these we have already had a definition 
from Webster, and seen a practical illustration in the French Revo- 
lution. Thiers's French Revolution, Vol. Ill, p. 106, gives the whole 
number of persons guillotined during the reign of terror as 1,022,351, 
besides massacres of other kinds in other places, in some of which 
the population of whole towns perished. Dr. Dick, in his Improve- 
ment of Society, p. 154, says : " Such was the rapidity with which 
the work of destruction was carried on, that within the short space 
of ten years not less than three million human beings . . . are sup- 
posed to have perished in that country alone, chiefly through the 
influence of immoral principles, and the seductions of a false phi- 
losophy." 

In connection with this, as showing the tendency of the times, 
may be mentioned the " International," an association which, not 
long since, was prominent and created a good deal of apprehension. 
The object of its members was to overthrow those whom they esteemed 
their enemies, namely, kings and capitalists. Its platform was, 
briefly, the abolition of all class rule and privileges; political and 
social equality of both sexes ; nationalization of land and instruments 
of production ; reduction of hours of labor ; education to be controlled 
by the state, and to be obligatory, gratuitous, and secular; religion 
to be ignored, a direct system of taxation based upon property, not 
upon industry; the abolition of all standing armies; and associative 
production instead of capitalist production. 

It will be seen at once that to put these principles into practice 
would be completely to change the present political and social rela- 
tions of society. The different branches of this revolutionary body 
may now go by different names, as jSTihilists in Russia, Communists 
in Germany, Anarchists and Monarchists in France, Fenians and 
Land-Leaguers in Ireland, the different secret labor organizations in 
this country, and Socialists everywhere. The principles involved are 
similar in all their divisions; the end sought, the same; and in the 
natural order of things, a great crisis in respect to these movements 
is inevitable. 



878 



APPENDIX 



The impress of the Satanic hand is clearly seen in that the state 
of society sought for is exactly the opposite of that established by 
God in the garden of Eden. There God was supreme; Christ, by 
whom God made all things, was recognized and honored; God's law 
was the governing rule; a spirit of true worship, prompted by love, 
controlled man's mind; the marriage relation was sacred; and the 
Sabbath was honored as God's great memorial. In the French Rev- 
olution, God was dethroned, Christ crucified afresh, Christianity de- 
nounced, and all restraint broken off from the carnal heart, worship 
discarded, the rest-day abolished, the marriage relation annulled, and 
society rent into mournful fragments. Let Communism prevail, and 
such is the state of society we shall have again. 

The fruit of this agitation is appearing more and more in the 
strained relations between labor and capital, all the time growing 
greater, the multiplication of " orders " among the working men, and 
the combination of capital for self -protection, the great strikes and 
mobs of 1893 - 95, necessitating even armed intervention on the part 
of the government. Suspicion and mistrust everywhere prevail; and 
" What are we coming to ? " is the question that trembles on many a 
lip. Truly, as our Lord said it would be just before his coming, 
" men's hearts " are " failing them for fear, and for looking after 
those things which are coming on the earth." Luke 21:26. 



2— THE " SEVEN TIMES " OF LEVITICUS 26. 

ALMOST every scheme of the "Plan of the Ages," "Age-to- 
come," etc., makes use of a supposed prophetic period called 
the " Seven Times ; " and the attempt is made to figure out 
a remarkable fulfilment by events in Jewish and Gentile his- 
tory. All such speculators might as well spare their pains; for there 
is no such prophetic period in the Bible. 

The term is taken from Leviticus 26, where the Lord denounces 
judgments against the Jews, if they shall forsake him. After men- 
tioning a long list of calamities down to verse 17, the Lord says : 
"And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will 
punish you seven times more for your sins." Verse 18. Verses 19 
and 20 enumerate the additional judgments, then it is added in verse 
21: "And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto 
me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to 
your sins." More judgments are enumerated, and then in verses 23 
and 24 the threatening is repeated : "And if ye will not be reformed 
by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me; then will I 
also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for 
your sins." In verse 28 it is repeated again. 

Thus the expression occurs four times, and each succeeding men- 
tion brings to view severer punishments, because the preceding ones 
were not heeded. Now, if " seven times " denotes a prophetic period 



APPENDIX 



879 



(2520 years), then we would have four of them, amounting in all to 
10,080 years, which would be rather a long time to keep a nation 
under chastisement. 

But we need borrow no trouble on this score; for the expression 
" seven times " does not denote a period of duration, but is simply 
an adverb expressing degree, and setting forth the severity of the 
judgments to be brought upon Israel. 

If it denoted a period of time, a noun and its adjective would be 
used, as in Dan. 4:16: " Let seven times pass over him." Here we 
have the noun (times) and adjective (seven) ; thus, il^D^ shibah 

iddan) ; but in the passages quoted above from Leviticus 26, the 
words "seven times" are simply the adverb ty^C* (sheba), which 
means, " sevenfold." The Septuagint makes the same distinction, 
using in Dan. 4 : 16, etc., lirra Kcupoi but in Leviticus simply the ad- 
verb, €7TTttKi5. 

The expression in Dan. 4 : 16 is not prophetic, for it is used in 
plain, literal narration. (See verse 25.) 



3— THE TEN DIVISIONS OF ROME. 

THE ten kingdoms which arose out of the old Roman empire, 
are symbolized by the ten horns on the fourth beast of Daniel 
7. All agree on this point; but there has not been entire una- 
nimity among expositors as to the names of the kingdoms 
which constituted these divisions. Some name the Huns as one of 
these divisions, others put the Alemanni in place of the Huns. That 
the reader may see the general trend of what has been written on 
this subject, the following facts are presented: — 

Machiavelli, the historian of Florence, writing simply as a his- 
torian, names the LIuns as one of the nations principally concerned 
in the breaking up of the Roman empire. Among those who have 
written on this point with reference to the prophecy, may be men- 
tioned, Berengaud, in the ninth century ; Mede, 1586 - 1638 ; Bossuet, 
1627 - 1704; Lloyd, 1627 - 1717; Sir Isaac Newton, 1642 - 1727; Bishop 

Newton, 1704-1782; Hales, 1821; Faber, 1773-1854. 

Of these nine authorities, eight take the position that the Huns 
were one of the ten kingdoms ; of these eight, two, Bossuet and Bishop 
Newton, followed by Dr. Clarke, have both the Huns and the Ale- 
manni; only one, Mede, omits the Huns and takes the Alemanni. 
Thus eight favor the view that the Huns were represented by one of 
the horns; two, while not rejecting the Huns, consider the Alemanni 
one of the horns; one rejects the Huns and takes the Alemanni. 
Scott and Barnes, in their commentaries, and Oswald, in his King- 
dom That Shall Not Be Moved, name the Huns. 



880 



APPENDIX 



4.— BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

PROMINENT MAETYKS. 

[For portraits, see page 180.] 

John de Wycliffe, born about 1324, styled the " Morning Star 

of the Reformation," was an English divine, whose piety and talents 
procured for him one of the highest ecclesiastical positions of honor. 
Having openly preached against the corruptions of the Roman 
Church, he was displaced, the pope issuing several bulls against him 
for heresy. Accordingly, he was examined by an assembly, but made 
so able a defense that it ended without determination. Continuing 
to denounce the papal corruptions, ordinances, and power, he was 
again summoned before a synod, but was released by order of the 
king's mother. It is remarkable that although he continued his ve- 
hement attacks upon vital points of Romish doctrine, he escaped the 
fate of others similarly accused; but over forty years after his death, 
which occurred in 1384, his bones were exhumed, burned, and cast 
into the River Swift, which bore them through the Severn to the 
sea, his very dust thus becoming emblematic of his doctrine, now dif- 
fused the world over. His most important work was the first En- 
glish version of the Bible. 

John H\iss, the celebrated reformer, was a native of Bohemia, 
born in 13T0, and educated at the university at Prague, where he 
received the degree of master of arts, and became rector of the Uni- 
versity and confessor to the Queen. Obtaining some of the writings 
of Wycliffe, he saw the errors and corruption of the Romish Church, 
which he freely exposed, though persecuted by several popes. By his 
teaching, a reformation began in the University, to check which the 
archbishop issued two decrees; but the new doctrine spreading still 
more, he was finally brought before a council, thrown into prison, 
and after some months' confinement, sentenced to be burned. Though 
urged at the stake to recant, he firmly refused, and until stifled with 
smoke, continued to pray and sing with a clear voice. He was 
burned in 1415, and his ashes, and even the soil on which they lay, 
were carefully removed, and thrown into the Rhine. 

Jerome of Prague, who derived his surname from the town 
where he was born somewhere between 1360 and 1370, completed his 
studies at the university of the same name, after which he traveled 
over the greater part of Europe. At Paris he received the degree of 
master of arts, and at Oxford he became acquainted with the writ- 
ings of Wyclifle, translating many of them into his own language. 
On his return to Prague, he openly professed Wycliffe's doctrines, 
and assisted Huss in the work of the Reformation. Upon the arrest 
of the latter, he also expressed his willingness to appear before the 
council in defense of his faith, and desired a safe-conduct of the 
emperor. This was not granted, but on his way home he was seized, 
carried to Constance, and after the martyrdom of Huss, threatened 
with like torments. In a moment of weakness, he abjured the faith; 



APPENDIX 



881 



but on being released, bemoaned his sin, and publicly renounced his 
recantation, for which he was consigned to the flames, 1416. 

William Tyndale. an eminent English divine, was born about 
1484. He received an ample education at Cambridge and Oxford, 
and took holy orders. Embracing the doctrines of the Reformation, 
he excited so much enmity among Romanists by his zeal and ability 
in expounding them, that he was compelled to seek refuge in Ger- 
many. Believing that the Scriptures should be read by the masses 
in the vernacular, he produced a complete version of the New Testa- 
ment in English, which, though ordered to be suppressed, was in such 
demand that six editions were published. This version was also the 
model and basis of that of King James, and is but little more obso- 
lete. He also translated the Pentateuch. For these and other re- 
formatory writings, he was arrested at Antwerp at the instigation of 
the English government, and after eighteen months' imprisonment, 
was burned, first being strangled by the hangman, 1536. 

Thomais Cranmer, the first Protestant archbishop of Canter- 
bury, was born in 1489. Although saintly in his profession as a 
divine, he was somewhat politic as a statesman, and thus was well 
suited to unite the religious and worldly enemies of popery. He was 
also a servile adherent of Henry VIII. After the death of the latter, 
he joined the upholders of Lady Jane Grey, who was also a Protest- 
ant, and was accordingly sent to the Tower on the accession of Mary ; 
and being accused of heresy by the papal party, was burned at Ox- 
ford, 1556. As a reformer, he introduced the Bible into the churches, 
and so used his influence as a regent of Edward VI that the Reforma- 
tion greatly prospered during the young monarch's reign. Shortly 
before his martyrdom, he signed a recantation contrary to his con- 
victions, in hope of life; but at the stake he was more courageous, 
first thrusting into the flames the hand which signed the document, 
exclaiming many times, " O my unworthy right hand ! " 

Hugh Latimer, born about 1490, one of the chief promoters 
of the Reformation in England, was educated at Cambridge, receiving 
the degree of master of arts. At the beginning of the Reformation, 
he was a zealous papist; but after conversing with the martyr Bilney, 
he renounced the Catholic faith, and labored earnestly in preaching 
the gospel. Henry VIII, being pleased with his discourses, made 
him bishop of Worcester; but being opposed to some of the king's 
measures, Latimer finally resigned. After the death of his patron, 
Cromwell, the latter's enemies sought him out, and he was sent to 
the Tower. He was released by Edward VI, but refused to be re- 
stored to his diocese, and remained with Cranmer, assisting in the 
Reformation. When Mary came to the throne, he was again sent 
to the Tower, thence with Cranmer and Ridley to dispute with popish 
bishops at Oxford. Here he argued with unusual clearness and sim- 
plicity, but was condemned and burned at the same stake with Rid- 
ley, 1555. 



882 



APPENDIX 



John Bradford was born in the first part of the reign of 
Henry VIII. He early evinced a taste for learning, and began the 
study of law; but finding theology more congenial, removed to Cam- 
bridge University, where his ability and piety won for him, in less 
than a year, the degree of master of arts. Soon after, he was made 
chaplain to Edward VI, and became one of the most popular preach- 
ers of Protestantism in the kingdom. But after the accession of that 
rigid Catholic, Mary, he was arrested on the charge of heresy, and 
confined in the Tower a year and a half, during which time he aided 
with his pen the cause for which he suffered. When finally brought 
to trial, he defended his principles to the last, withstanding all at- 
temps to effect his conversion to Romanism. He was condemned, 
and committed to the flames in 1555. He died, rejoicing thus to be 
able to suffer for the truth. 

Nicholas Ridley, a learned English bishop and martyr, edu- 
cated at Pembroke College, Cambridge, was born about 1500. His 
great abilities and piety recommended him to the notice of Arch- 
bishop Cranmer, through whom he was made chaplain to the king. 
In the reign of Edward VI, he was nominated to the see of Rochester, 
and finally to the bishopric of London. By his influence with the 
young king, the priories and revenues devoted to the maintenance of 
corrupt friars and monks were used for charitable purposes. On the 
decease of Edward, he embraced the cause of Lady Jane Grey, and 
in a sermon warned the people of the evil that would befall Protest- 
antism if Mary should come to the throne. For this, and for his zeal 
in aiding the Reformation, he was seized by Queen Mary, sent to 
Oxford to dispute with some of the popish bishops, and on his refus- 
ing to recant, was burned with Latimer, 1555. 

John Hooper was born about 1495, and was educated at Ox- 
ford. After taking his degree of bachelor of arts, he joined the 
Cistercian monks, but his attention being directed to the writings 
of Zwingli, after a diligent study of the Scriptures, he became a 
zealous advocate of the Reformation. Knowing the danger to which 
his opinions exposed him, he went to Prance. On his return to En- 
gland, he found that plots were again being laid against his life, and 
escaped to Ireland, thence to France, and finally to Germany, where 
he remained some years. Again returning to England, he applied 
himself to instruct the masses, laboring so successfully that the king, 
Edward VI., requested him to remain in London to further the Ref- 
ormation, and created him bishop of Worcester. On the accession 
of Mary, however, he was immediately arrested, sent to the Fleet 
prison, and, after eighteen months' confinement, was tried for heresy, 
and condemned to the flames in 1555. He endured the agonies of the 
stake with great fortitude, though they were unusually protracted 
on account of the use of green wood. 

John Rogers, the first of the many who were martyred during 
Queen Mary's reign, was born about 1500. He was educated at 
Cambridge, receiving holy orders, and was afterward chaplain to 



APPENDIX 



883 



the English factory at Antwerp, where he became acquainted with 
Tyndale and Coverdale, and by their aid published a complete En- 
glish version of the Bible. Removing to Wittenberg, he became pas- 
tor of a Dutch congregation; but when Edward VI came to the 
throne, he was invited home, and made prebendary and divinity 
reader of St. Paul's. On the Sunday after Queen Mary's accession, 
in a sermon at St. Paul's, he exhorted the people to adhere to the 
doctrines taught in King Edward's days, and to resist all Catholic 
forms and dogmas. Eor this he was summoned before the' council, 
but vindicated himself so well that he was dismissed. This not pleas- 
ing Mary, he was again summoned, and ordered to remain a prisoner 
in his own house ; but he was soon after seized, and sent to Newgate. 
He was then tried and condemned, and refusing to recant, was 
burned, 1555. 



EMINENT REFORMERS. 

[For portraits, seepage 633.1 

Ma.rtin Luther, the greatest of reformers, was born in Saxony, 
in 1483. When a poor boy, a benevolent lady took him in charge to 
educate. At first he studied law, but a narrow escape from death 
so affected him with the uncertainty of life that he retired to a mon- 
astery. Here he came in possession of a Bible, and was struck with 
the difference between the teachings of the gospel and the practices 
of the Romish Church. Being sent on an errand to Rome, the im- 
pression was deepened, and when the pope issued his famous bull 
granting the sale of indulgences, Luther, who was then professor of 
divinity in the University of Wittenberg, was prepared to oppose it, 
which he did so ably that multitudes, including many nobles, upheld 
him. He was ordered to appear at Rome, but refused. The pope 
issued a condemnation, which Luther burned. At the Diet of Worms 
he refused to retract, and soon spread his views throughout the king- 
dom by his writings. He also translated the Bible into German. A 
decree being passed that the mass should be universally observed, a 
protest was issued by the reformed party, from which they received 
the name of Protestants. The confession of Augsburg, the standard 
of their faith, was then drawn up. He still kept on writing and 
laboring until he died, worn out by excessive toil, in 1516. 

Philip MelaLncthon, the famous reformer and friend of Luther, 
was born in the grand duchy of Baden in 1497. At the age of seven- 
teen he graduated as master of arts from the university of Heidel- 
berg, and soon after obtained the Greek professorship at Wittenberg. 
Here he formed a friendship with Luther, whose opinions he accepted, 
and defended in his lectures and writings. His prudence aided the 
promulgation of Protestant doctrines greatly, as it guarded them 
from the abuses of intemperate zeal. His greatest work was the 
drawing up of the Augsburg Confession, although he was a fluent 



884 



APPENDIX 



writer, and was the author of the first system of Protestant theology, 
which passed through more than fifty editions, and was used as a 
text-book in the universities. His learning and moderation became 
famous throughout all Europe, and the kings of England and France 
invited him to their kingdoms ; but he preferred to remain at Witten- 
berg, where he died in 1560. 

Ulric Zwingli, whose name in the annals of Protestant reform- 
ers ranks second only to that of Luther, was born in 1484. As he 
early evinced a taste for study, he was sent first to Bale and Berne, 
and finally to the university at Vienna, to receive an education. On 
his return he was pastor of a large parish near his birthplace, and 
afterward preacher to the cathedral church at Zurich. Here he made 
a special study of the Scriptures, committing to memory the whole 
of the New and a part of the Old Testament. His theological re- 
searches led him to see the corruptions of the Romish Church, and he 
commenced declaiming against them, especially against papal indul- 
gences, until he effected the same separation for Switzerland from the 
Catholic dominion, that Luther did for Saxony. These religious 
dissensions brought on a civil war in Switzerland, and Zwingli, who 
accompanied his army as chaplain, was slain on the field of battle, 
1531. 

John Calvin, an eminent reformer, and founder of the religious 

sect known as the Calvinists, was born in 1509. He was early des- 
tined for the church, being presented with a benefice when only twelve 
years old. He was educated at Paris for the ministry; but becom- 
ing dissatisfied with the tenets of the Romish Church, he turned 
his attention to the law. He soon received the seeds of the reformed 
doctrine, and so strongly defended them that he was obliged to leave 
France. He retired to Bale, Switzerland, where he composed his 
famous Institutes of Christianity, which was translated into several 
languages. He then settled at Geneva as minister and professor of 
divinity, but was compelled to leave for refusing to obey some papal 
forms. Going to Strasburg, he raised up a French church, where he 
officiated. By the divines of this town he was sent as deputy to the 
Diet of Worms. He returned to Geneva after repeated solicitation, 
and was actively engaged as speaker and writer in the interests of 
the Reformation, until his death in 1564. 

John Knox, the celebrated Scotch reformer, was born in 1505, 

and was educated at St. Andrew's University. He received a priest's 
orders, but renounced popery after reading the writings of St. Augus- 
tine and Jerome. He was accused of heresy, and his public confes- 
sion of faith condemned; but he began to preach it openly from the 
pulpit, and the reformed doctrines spread rapidly. St. Andrew's 
being taken by a French fleet, he was carried to Rouen, and con- 
demned to the galleys, where he remained nineteen months. After 
his liberation, he went to England, and was made chaplain to Edward 
VI, having refused a bishopric. On Mary's accession, he went to 
Frankfort and preached to the English exiles. Thence he went to 



APPENDIX 



885 



Geneva, where he was much esteemed by Calvin, to whose doctrines 
he was much attached. He returned to Scotland, where he died in 
1572, after rendering the Reformation triumphant in his native land. 

John BimyaLn, the most popular religious writer in the En- 
glish language, was born in 1628. He was a tinker by trade, and 
therefore received but a meager education. His mind was little 
drawn toward religious matters until his enlistment as a soldier, dur- 
ing which one of his comrades, who had taken his post, was killed. 
This he looked upon as a direct interposition of Providence, and after 
his return home, became deeply concerned about his spiritual welfare. 
He soon joined the Baptist Church, and from an exhorter, became a 
successful preacher among them. At this time all dissenters from 
the Church of England were punished, and Bunyan was thrown into 
jail, where he remained twelve years. Here he wrote the world- 
renowned Pilgrim's Progress, which has since been translated into 
every tongue of Christendom. He was also the author of other re- 
ligious writings, such as the Holy War. At the close of the persecu- 
tion he was released. He soon resumed his former labors, and was 
popularly known as Bishop Bunyan. His death, in 1688, resulted 
from exposure. 

John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, was born in 1703, 
and was educated at Oxford, becoming an eminent tutor in Lincoln 
College. With his brother and a few others, he formed a society for 
mutual edification in theological exercises, and they rigidly occupied 
themselves in religious duties, in fasting and prayer, and visiting 
prisons and relieving the suffering. At the solicitation of General 
Oglethorpe, Wesley accompanied him to Georgia with a view of con- 
verting the Indians. He finally returned to England to engage in 
missionary labors, but his design was not to withdraw from the es- 
tablished Church of England, but to create a revival among the neg- 
lected classes by preaching salvation through simple faith in Christ. 
However, the churches being shut against him, he held open-air 
services, obtaining so many converts that organization became neces- 
sary, and spacious churches were built. Until his death in 1791, he 
was indefatigable in his self-imposed work, which he carried through 
England, Scotland, and Ireland, traveling nearly 300,000 miles, and 
preaching over 40,000 sermons, besides being a voluminous writer. 

George Whitefield, an English clergyman, born in 1714, was 
educated at Oxford, where he received the degree of B. A., and where 
he became acquainted with Charles Wesley, and was an enthusiastic 
member of the club which gave rise to Methodism. He was soon 
ordained, and commenced his remarkable missionary career. Upon 
the urgent invitation of John Wesley, who was in Georgia, he em- 
barked for America, but soon returned to solicit funds for a proposed 
orphan asylum. He made five subsequent visits to America, preach- 
ing in all the large cities, also in those of England, Scotland, and 
Ireland, and made a journey to Holland. He met with great oppo- 
sition from the clergy, and being shut out of the churches, was the 



886 



APPENDIX 



first to introduce open-air services. Having differed from the Wes- 
leys in some belief, they finally separated, which gave rise to the two 
classes, Calvinistic and Wesleyan Methodists. He still continued 
his laborious efforts, sometimes speaking three and four times a day 
for weeks, until his death, in 1770, at Newburyport, Mass., while pre- 
paring for a seventh missionary tour in America. 

John Fletcher was born in Switzerland, in 1729. He was of 

noble birth, and was educated at the university of Geneva. Not 
conforming conscientiously to all the Calvinistic doctrines, he for- 
sook the clerical profession, and entered military service. Peace 
being proclaimed, he went to England as a tutor. He joined the 
Methodist society, and received orders from the Church of England. 
Though presented with a good living, he declined, saying " that it 
afforded too much money for too little work." The poor and suffer- 
ing were his charge, and in a region of mines and mountains, midst 
opposition and persecution, he labored with charity and devotion. 
He visited France, Switzerland, and Italy, and on his return was 
president of a theological school, but his advocacy of Wesleyanism 
sundered the connection. He afterward devoted his life to parish- 
ional duties, making long missionary journeys with Wesley and 
Whitefield, and to the preparation in writing of their peculiar doc- 
trines. His death occurred in 1785. 

William Miller, the greatest reformer of modern times, born 
in Massachusetts in 1782, was of poor but honorable parentage. Hav- 
ing a thirst for knowledge, he acquired considerable education by his 
own exertions. He served in the war of 1812, and was promoted to 
the rank of captain. Until 1816 he favored infidelity; but a careful 
study of the Bible for the purpose of refuting Christianity convinced 
him of his error, and opened to the world the then almost unexplored 
fields of prophecy. After much solicitation, he began his life work, 
— the promulgation of the prophetic interpretations, especially in re- 
gard to the second advent, thus inseparably connecting himself with 
the great religious movement of 1844. The message soon became so 
wide-spread that invitations came from all the principal cities of the 
United States, as many as possible of which he answered; and a re- 
vival such as had never been known sprang up in every denomination, 
extending even to Europe. Though disappointed in the time of the 
second advent, by a misapplication of prophecy, the majority of his 
views proved themselves to be correct, and introduced a new era in 
the never-ending work of reformation. He devoted himself to the 
work which he had begun, both lecturing and writing, until his peace- 
ful death in 1849. 



Index of Authors 



AND AUTHORITIES REFERRED TO OR QUOTED IN 
THIS WORK. 



PAGE 

Arnold, Edwin 121 

Advent Shield 248, 249, 269 

Advent Herald 263, 717 

Advent Manual 323 

Andrews, S. J 258 

Alison 342 

Allgemeine Zeitung 360 

Andrews, J. N 417, 721 

Adams, Dr 502, 504 

Atkins, Robert 798 

Alford (New Testament) 862 

A Presbyterian pastor, Ireland 741 

American Tract Society 502 

Boothroyd 154, 331 

Barnes, Albert 166, 181 

269, 406, 475, 482, 492, 545, 547, 780 

Bower 171, 172, 642 

Baronius 173 

Buck 182, 429, 494 

Bagster 274 

Bellarmine, Cardinal 182 

Blackwood's Magazine 332 

Boston Journal 353 

Bonaparte, Napoleon 358 

Burr, E. F., D. D 377 

Bloomfield 408, 419, 468, 471 

Blunt, H 436 

Benson 422, 472 

Bingham, Hon. J. A 658 

Beecher, Charles 666, 821 

Banner of Light 667 

Blanchard, Professor 684 

Bush, Professor George 697 

Brock, Mourant 719 

Belfast News Letter 741 

Beecher, Henry Ward 801 

Booth, B. F 743 

Cowles, H., D. D 70 

Clarke, Adam, 103, 120, 154, 178, 188 

317, 348, 350, 419, 434, 490, 839, 845 
Cottage Bible 153, 477 



Croly, Geo 186, 324, 325, 642, 791 



PAGE 

Carleton 353 

Cassiodorius, Aurelius 261 

Current Literature 301 

Chaumette 338 

Christian Union 364, 685 

Churchman 354 

Chronicle, San Francisco 358, 359 

Comprehensive Commentary 438 

Comprehensive Bible 417 

Church Advocate 667 

Christian Advocate 744 

Campbell, Alexander 678, 796 

Catechism, Christian Religion 674 

Catechism, Doctrinal 675 

Champlain Journal 685 

Cuyler 687 

Chambers's Encyclopedia 576 

Christian Statesman 688, 690 

Chester (Eng.) Chronicle 689 

Christian Weekly 689 

CJiristian Palladium 739 

Congregationalist, The 740 

Chicago Tribune 742 

Catholic Christian Instructed 675 

Cyprian « 862 

Davidson 153 

D'Aubigne 162, 174 

Dowling 182, 183 

Du Pin 321 

Domestic Bible 417 

Doddridge 474 

Dwight, President 502 

Devens, R. M 503, 508 

Dublin Nation 653 

De Tocqueville 647 

Du Pui, James 847 

Elliott 173, 177, 253, 554, 580 

Evagrius 174 

Elizabeth, Charlotte 182 

Encyclopedia Americana 

302, 303, 312, 348, 496 

Evening News, Detroit 360 



(887) 



INDEX OF 



Ecclesiastical Commentaries 485 

Exposition of Seven Trumpets of 

Revelation 8, 9 540 

Everett, Edward 653 

Edmonds, Judge 665 

Eastburn 687 

Experience and Views. 859 

Fox 182 

Finney, Professor 740 

Faber 76 

Gibbon 69, 169 

173, 174, 321, 545, 546, 551, 579, 580 

Gesenius 153, 184 

Gavin, Anthony 182 

Geddes 182 

Griesbach 419 

Gill 423 

Greenfield 467 

Gage, History of Rowley, Mass 502 

Golden Censer 743 

Golden Rule 797 

Henry, Matthew 112, 423 

Hengstenberg 246, 269 

Harmony of Prophetic Chronology.. 249 

Hales, Dr 249, 258, 261, 264 

Historic Echoes of the Voice of God 350 

Hugo, Victor 386 

Here and Hereafter 407, 759 

Home , ... 417 

History of the Waldenses 438 

Herschel 501 

Havens 667 

Huntington, Bishop 687 

Hudson 828 

Independent, N. Y 365, 690, 744 

Johnson's Cyclopedia 49 

Josephus 202, 306 

Janesville (Wis) Gazette 685 

Jenks 821 

Kitto 318, 426 

Kossuth, Eouis 358 

Kurtz 427 

Keith 510, 551, 561 

Keenan, Stephen 674 

Kenedy, J. P 675 

Kerfoot, Bishop 637 

Eloyd 76 

Eewis, Professor 6S7 

Eimbroch 182 



AUTHORS 888 

Eoekhart 343 

Eyeil, Sir Charles 496 

Eife of Edward Eee 501 

Eitch, Josiah 575 

Eockhart, W., B. A 676 

Eansing State Republican 686 

Mercerus 246 

Montanus 246 

Mosheim 165, 171, 177, 486, 487 

Mede 166, 331 

Machiavelli 170 

Madden, R. R 349 

Martyn 654 

Miller, William 434,438,488 

Mine Explored 417 

Missionary Review 609 

Methodists (Wesleyan) 797 

Macmillan & Co 648 

Mc Millan, W. H 692 

Mc Ilvaine .... 687 

Newton, William 82 

Nelson, David 87 

Newton, Sir Isaac 166 

Newton, Bishop ... 166, 192, 195, 278 

286, 290, 294, 303, 309, 365, 422, 667 

New York Tribune 353, 354 

Nevins 417 

New York Observer 743 

Oswald 178, 182 

Olmstead, Professor 510 

Olshausen 417 

Porphyry 21 

Prideaux 24, 196 

201, 202, 256, 271, 280, 298, 306, 315 

Philadelphia Public Ledger 363 

Paragraph Bible 417 

Portsmouth Journal 502 

Pownal, Governor 647 

Patterson, Dr 687 

Present Truth, The 696 

Philadelphia Sun 739 

Porter, Commodore 784 

Pentecost, G. F 798 

Pollok 864 

Rollin 149, 290, 296 

Ranke : 170 

Religious Encyclopedia 201 

Rapin 321 

Rice, Dr 485 

Reformation, The 703 

Religious Telescope 739 



INDEX OF 



Stanley 165, 170 

Scolt, Church History 178 

Scott's Napoleon 332, 334, 338 

Scott 423, 471, 475 

Stockius 246 

Signs of the Times 249 

Sanctuary and Its Cleansing 253 

Stonard, Dr 271 

Smith, Key to Revelation 334 

Scientific American 379 

Scholefield : 468 

Sears, Wonders of the World 495 

Sears, Guide to Knowledge 502 

Sabine, Ecclesiastical History 542 

Storrs, George 611 

Smith, Philip :. 621 

Statesman's Year Book, 1867 648 

Spiritualism a Subject of Prophecy. . 664 

Smart, Rev. J. S 683 

Stevenson, Dr 6S3 

Simpson 687 

Seelye 687 

State Republican, Lansing 686 

Saint-Hilaire, M. Barthelemy 689 

Stuart, Professor 780, 828, 851 

Scott, O 797 

Syriac New Testament 779 

Sawyer, New Testament 779 

Thiers 344 



AUTHORS 8so 

Thompson 403, 405, 424, 457 

Tenney 504 

Townsend, G. A 647, 653, 684 

Tuttle, Hudson 665 

Treatise of Thirty Controversies. . . . 674 

Taylor, D. T 719 

Tennessee Baptist 796 

True Wesleyan 797 

United States Magazine 654 

Vulgate, The 154 

White 344 

Wintle 331 

Watson 434, 438 

Wesley 437, 466, 468, 470, 472, 694, 780 

Woodhouse 474 

Whittier 503 

Ward, Henry Dana 508 

Webster, Noah 514, 673 

Who Changed the Sabbath? 676 

Weekly Alta Calif ornian 685 

Wolff, Dr. Joseph 719 

Whiting, Prof., New Testament 729 

Watchman and Reflector 743 

Wakefield, New Testament 779 

White, Mrs. E. G 626, 628, 806 

Wicks 847 



56 



Index of Texts 

IN OTHER BOOKS OF THE BIBLE SUPPORTING THE EXPOSITION 
OF DANIEL AND THE REVELATION SET FORTH IN 
THIS WORK. 



GENESIS PAGE 

1:2 564, 823 

2:1, 2 675, 755 

2: 1 - 3 755, 756 

2: 7 493, 770 

3:24 427 

4: 9, 10 . . , 492, 493 

10: 10, 8- 10, 11 24, 48, 49 

17: 11 522 

48: 5 533 

49: 9, 10 473 

Exodus 

5:2 607 

7: 17-21, 25 773 

9: 8-11 770 

9:23 783 

10:21-23 774 

15: 17 210, 211 

19: 4 631 

20:8-11 756 

25:8, 9; 26:30; 27:8 217, 219, 446 

25: 9, 40 428 

25:31, 32, 37; 26:35; 27:20 467 

25: 16; 31: 18 616 

28: 41, 43 446 

30: 22 - 30 269 

31: 13 525 

40: 9, 10 248 

LEVITICUS 

1:1-4; 4:3-6; 16:5-10, 15, 16, 
20-22 822 

8: 10-15 269 

16: 17, 20, 30, 33 225, 447 

16:8 821 

16: 33 218 

17: 11, 14 . . .' 224 

NUMBERS 

13: 11 533 

14: 34 185, 264 

22-25; 31: 13-16 435 

19: 13 .'. 493 

DEUTERONOMY 

10:2, 5 616 

(890) 



PAGE 

12:5, 11, 21; 14:23, 24; 16:6 527 

12:5, 14, 18, 21; 14:23; 16:2, 6... 707 

28: 49, 50 231 

29: 29 400 

I KINGS 

1:5-9, 19, 25 .• 846 

18:19; 21 438 

21: 8; 8:8 523 

II KINGS 

19: 15 526 

20:14-18 28 

II CHRONICLES 

2: 12 526 

20: 7, 8 211 

EZRA 

1: 1 V.' 21 

1:1-4; 6: 1 - 12; 7 253 

6: 4; 4: 6, 7 64, 185 

7:9 265 

NEHEMIAH 

2: 2: 16; 6: 15 254, 255 

9:6 526 

ESTHER 

1:1 129, 192, 201 

3: 12 523 

JOB 

9:8 .526 

23: 3 452 

38:7 834 

38: 22, 23 769, 784 

PSALMS 

2: 7-9 621 

2: 8, 9 88, 407, 440 

36:8 . 536 

37: 11 .- 477 

37: 20 479 

69: 4 697 

7S: 53, 54, 69 210, 211 

78: 68 211 



INDEX OF TEXTS 



891 



85: 10 268 

91: 2-10 698, 786 

96: 5 526 

110: 1 461 

112: 8 32 

114: 1 - 8 212, 815 

115:4-7, 15; 96:5; 121:2; 124:8; 

134: 3; 146: 6 526 

119: 126 696 

126: 1, 2 55 

146:4 663 

149:9 441, 763 

PROVERBS 

11: 8 135 

11: 31 828 

ECCLESIASTES 

9: 5, 6, 10 663 

ISAIAH 

3: 10, 11 766 

8: 7 776 

8: 16 523 

9:6 845 

11: 1, 10 473 

11: 4 . 819 

13:19-22 60 

21: 2 191 

23: 1 317 

24: 1 824 

24: 19, 20 517 

25:8 536 

28: 17; 30: 30 784 

29: 10-14 866 

30:33 830 

30: 26; 66: 23 854 

32: 18, 19 785 

33:14 833 

33: 14, 15; 66: 24 827 

33: 16 535 

34: 8 758, 806 

37; 16; 42: 5; 44: 24; 45: 12; 51: 13. 526 

39:1 49 

51: 7 843 

54: 1-17 816 

55: 1 453 

56: 1, 2 757 

60: 13 209 

63: 1-4 817 

63: 18; 64: 11 212 

64: 6 455 

65: 17-25 477 

66:22, 23 757 

66:24 833 

JEREMIAH 

2; 3; 31: 32 733 

4: 23-27 517 



4: 19-26 824 

10: 10-12; 32: 17; 51: 15 526 

10: 11 525 

15: 16 - 18 600 

17:24-27 27 

25: 8 - 11 20, 24 

25: 12; 29: 10 233 

25: 30 783 

25: 30-33 140, 517, 521 

30:4-7 535 

49: 39 191 

50:25 769 

51:9 738 

51:25 729 

TjZEKlEL 

1: 14 241 

4:6 185, 264 

9:4 522 

12:13 27 

14: 19, 20; 28: 3 19 

20: 12, 20 525 

21 : 25 - 27, 31 230, 388 

23: 2 - 4 619 

24: 13 697 

45: 18 447 

JOEE 

1: 14-20 775 

1: 18-20 53& 

2: 32 370 

2: 30, 31 721 

3: 16 373, 513, 706, 761, 783 

AMOS 

9: 3 697 

OBADIAH 

16 ..: 480 

HABAKKUK 

2: 11 492 

ZECHARIAH 

3: 3-5 443, 455 

4: 11-14 603 

6: 12, 13 266, 460, 838 

9: 10 839 

MALACHI 

4:1 479, 604, 830, 840 

MATTHEW 

3: 12 ..^ 480 

5:5 477 

5:8 860 

5: 17-20 757 

5:18 32 

10: 15; 11:21-24 713 

10: 28 430 

10: 32, 33 445 



892 



INDEX OF TEXTS 



11: 15; 13: 9, 43 426 

12: 8 421 

13: 16 392 

18: 17 675 

18:20 40 

19: 28 151 

22:1-14; 26:29 724, 816, 845 

23: 34, 35 778 

24: 12 661 

24: 13 440 

24: 14 393, 717 

24: 15, 16 19, 391 

24: 21 369, 438 

24: 21, 22, 29 509 

24: 22 439, 604, 632 

24:24 703 

24: 27, 31 409 

24: 29 - 31 721 

25: 1-13 845 

25: 21, 23 854 

25: 31 - 34 85, 538 

25: 34 162, 612 

25: 41, 46 830, 836 

26: 29 85, 816 

27: 52, 53 374, 466 

MARK 

1:14, 15 257 

8: 38 445 

9:43-48 833 

13: 24 513 

13: 24 -26 721 

13: 29 515 

14:25 816 

1 : 11, 26 229 

1 : 32, 33 368, 446, 473 

2: 1 300, 622 

2:25, 26, 28 620 

3: 1-3 304 

3:21, 22 254 

3: 23 257 

10: 16 675 

10: 23, 24 392 

12:8, 9 445 

12:32 85 

12: 35-37; 19: 12, 13 845 

12: 37 816 

14: 16-24, 12-15 816 

14: 14 430 

16: 19-31 491 

17: 17 41 

17: 26-30; 18: 8 661, 742 

18: 7, 8 761 

19: 10- 12 156 

19: 12 724 

19: 13 440 



21:24 ,. 388 

21:25 512 

21:27 370 

21 : 25 - 36 721 

22: 18, 30 816 

JOHN 

1:1, 3; 5: 26 480 

2: 13; 5:1; 6: 4; 13: 1 258 

5: 28 276, 367, 401 

5:28, 29 625 

5: 44 . .. 697 

14:2, 3 „ 715 

14: 3 430 

14: 26; 16: 13 455, 456 

19: 30 597 

ACTS 

1:6; 14:22 85 

1:9, 11 408 

3: 15; 5: 31 202, 367 

3: 19 444 

4: 24; 14: 15; 17: 23, 24 526 

6:5 426 

7: 26 697 

7: 44 219, 446 

7: 56 463 

9: 1 - 7 272 

10: 38 .... 455 

14:22 411 

15: 1-35 424 

15: 14 , 598 

16: 26; 27: 24 42 

17: 29 670 

17: 31; 24: 25 713 

20: 7 674 

20: 17-38 403 

26: 23 407 

ROMANS 

2:4 ... 697 

2: 6-10 835 

2: 16 713 

2: 28, 29; 9: 6-8; 11: 17-24 

429, 532, 846 

3:31 757 

4: 11 522 

4 : 13, 14 454, 477, 843 

4: 17 406 

6:16 753 

8: 24, 25 454 

8: 29 406, 407 

9:6, 7 429 

10: 7 823 

I CORINTHIANS 

6: 2 612, 763 

6:2, 3 162, 440 



INDEX OF TEXTS 



893 



8:5 524 

9:27 444 

10: 33 697 

13: 13 455 

15:20 407 

15:20, 23 406 

15:24 368 

15:24-28 460 

15:50 85 

15: 51 -54 430 

15: 52 597, 761 

16:2 674 

II CORINTHIANS 

3: 14 826 

5: 10 267, 713 

8: 13, 14 848 

11: 2 733 

11:13 424 

12: 2 426, 837, 838 

GAEA.TIANS 

1:8 714 

1: 11, 12 598 

3:28, 29 429, 454, 477, 843, 846 

4:21-31 816 

4: 26 427, 845 

5:4 697 

5: 6 455 

EPHESIANS 

1:9, 10 597 

1: 20, 21 407, 621 

1 : 20 - 22 368, 460 

1: 23 826 

2:8 454 

2: 12, 13 846 

2:15 757 

3: 3, 6 598 

4:8 374, 465 

5:23 815 

6:19 598 

PHILIPPIANS 

2:9 480 

3: 11 706 

COLOSSIANS 

1 : 15 - 18 406, 407 

4:3 598 

I THESSALONIANS 

4:16 276, 367, 401, 409, 625 

4: 16, 17 430 

5:4 443 

II THESSALONIANS 

1:6-10 410 

1: 7, 8 369, 861 



2: 1 - 3 592 

2:3 434 

2:8 155, 624, 715, 819 

2:8-12 703 

2: 15 675 

I TIMOTHY 

6: 18 455 

II TIMOTHY 

2: 12 412 

3 721 

3: 1-5, 12 661 

3:4, 5 742 

4:1, 8, 20 85, 403, 430, 723 

HEBREWS 

1:2, 6, 14 406, 480, 711 

2: 14 479 

4:1 675 

6: 7; 8; 9 269 

7:23-25 227 

7: 27; 8: 4, 5; 9: 6, 7, 12; 13: 11. . . 447 

8: 1, 2; 9: 23, 24 209, 460 

8: 1 621 

8:2 446, 823 

8:4, 5 220 

8: 12 444 

9:1 214, 218, 219 

9: 1 -5, 8, 12, 21, 23, 24 446 

9: 2-5 214 

9:8, 9, 23, 24 209 

9:12 226 

9:22, 23 223 

10: 19 446 

10:25 448 

10:36 759 

11: 1 454 

11: 6 454 

11:33 129 

12: 8 456 

12: 22 477 

12:23 532 

12: 25 -27 516 

12: 26 761, 783 

12: 26-28 ' 706 

13:22 110 

JAMES 

1:1, 18, 27 443, 708, 846 

2:5 85 

2: 11, 12 713, 757 

5: 4, 7, 8 492, 759 

I TETER 

1:1, 5 404, 757 

2: 9 408, 411 

3: 21 695 

5:4 430 



894: 



INDEX OF TEXTS 



II PETER 

1: 19 441, 444 

2 : 4, 9, 14 296, 627, 713 

3:3, 4 661 

3:7 615, 837 

3:7, 10 828 

3: 7-13 479, 83a 

3: 13 477, 479 



I JOHN 



2:20, 27 455 

3: 15 773 

JUDE 

6 713 

9 625 

14, 15 723 

24 469 



General Index 



ALEXANDER, the Great, first 
king of the Grecian Empire, 
65; his generous treatment of 
the royal Persian captives, 66; 
his self-conceit, 66; his de- 
baucheries and death, 66; ce- 
lerity of his movements, 149; 
his pompous claim, 166; how 
his kingdom was divided into 
four parts, 149 ; fulfils Dan. 11 : 
3, 4, 283; his posterity extinct 
in 15 years, id.; names of the 
four generals who divided his 
kingdom, 283; their territory, 
id. 

Anointing the most holy, what, 
269. 

Antiochus Magnus fulfils Dan. 
11:13, 289. 

Actium, battle of, 311. 

Antony, death of, 312. 

Abomination that maketh deso- 
late set up, 323. 

A new power introduced, 331. 

Assistance rendered Turkey, 352. 

Armenian atrocities, 365. 

Angel, Christ's, who, 401. 

Angel of the church, who, 424. 

Antipas, who, 434. 

A clean universe, 478. 

Alaric invades Rome, 541. 

Attila, the Hun, ranks with 
Alaric and Genseric in the de- 
struction of the Roman Em- 
pire, 548, 551. 

Abubekr, his singular com- 
mands to his army, 567. 

Anger of the nations, when, 612. 

American statistics, 654. 

A. Campbell describes sects, 678. 

Ark of testament ui heaven, 749. 

Armageddon, battle of, 779. 



Angels not disembodied souls, 
816. 

Azazel, name of the devil, 821. 
A thousand years in heaven, 829. 
Adding to, or taking from, 868. 

BABYLONISH Empire, t h e 
head o f gold, 4 8 ; when 
founded, id.; its extent, 49; 
how universal, 50. 

Bible names, significance of, 29. 

Babylon, city, description of; 
stratagem of Cyrus by which 
it was taken, 56 ; its final ruin, 
60. 

Belshazzar, son of Nabonadius, 
joint ruler with his father, 55; 
his impious feast, 114; chosen 
by Cyrus as the time to capture 
Babylon, 114; its conclusion, 
120; poetical description of, by 
Sir Edwin Arnold, 121-127. 

Bear, a symbol of Medo-Persia, 
144. 

Beast, great and terrible, symbol 

of Rome, 150. 
Berenice married by Antiochus, 

285; murdered by Laodice, id. 
Bonaparte dreams of glory, 344; 

Egyptian expedition, 345; his 

views of Russia, 358. 
Balaam, his doctrine, what, 435. 
Blessing, the, at end of 1335 

days, what, 392. 
Book of life, 444. 
Beasts, four, who, 467. 
Books, ancient, style of, 470. 
Bottomless pit, meaning of, 564, 

823. 

Beast of Rev. 13:1, and little 
horn of Dan. 7:25 identical, 
641. 

(895) 



896 



GENERAL INDEX 



Beast, image to, what, 665; mark 

of, what, 669. 
Babylon, symbolical, what, 714. 
Bride, the Lamb's wife, who, 815, 

843. 

Benediction on commandment- 
keepers, 862. 
Binding of Satan, what, 824. 

CYAXERES, the Mede, called 
in Dan. 5 : 31 " Darius," 55. 

Cyrus, son of Cambyses, king of 
Persia, nephew of Cyaxeres, or 
Darius, king of the Medes, 64; 
conquered Babylon, b. c. 538, 
63; takes the throne on the 
death of Darius, 128; his de- 
cree for the return of the Jews, 
64; length of his reign, 64; 
his successors, 64. 

Chronology of the kingdom of 
God, 83-86. 

Changing times and laws, what, 
184. 

Christian era, 258, note. 
Commandment of Cyrus, Darius, 

and Artaxerxes one decree, 

263. 

Caesar, Julius, assumes control 

of Egypt, 295 ; is captivated by 

Cleopatra, 296; fulfils Dan. 11: 

18, 19, 299. 
Caesar, Augustus, a raiser of 

taxes, fulfils Dan. 11:20, 300. 
Caesar, Tiberias, fulfils Dan. 11 : 

21, 22, 301. 
Chittim, what country, 317. 
Christ's present reign, 368; 

change of position, id. 
Conscious state of the dead not 

proved by Dan. 12:2, 374. 
Churches, the seven, cover the 

whole gospel age, 403-405. 
Coming of Christ visible, 409. 
Candlesticks, meaning of. 420. 
Confession and denial of Christ, 

445. 

Cold and hot, signification of, 
451. 

Chastisement, a token of love, 
456. 



Consulship of Borne extinguished 
by Justinian, 553. 

Chosroes, king of Persia, 562. 

Constantine XIII, last emperor 
of the East, 759. 

Constantinople, siege and over- 
throw of, 759. 

Character of II. S. government, 
658, 659. 

Catholic catechisms, testimony 
of, 675, 676. 

Church and state in America, 
682-694. 

Christian Endeavor, aims of, 692. 
Chronology of third message, 
748. 

Convulsions of nature, 808. 
Closing thoughts, 868. 

DANIEL and Revelation coun- 
terparts of each other, 3. 

Daniel's prophecy to be under- 
stood, 5; Daniel and Ezekiel, 
19, 20 ; Daniel's place in proph- 
ecy, 20; source of his fame, 
id.; nature of his prophecy, 21; 
his integrity, 30; his exalta- 
tion, 90; his wonderful prayer, 
234; his age and decease, 21. 

Date of the captivity, 33. 

Daily, Dan. 8:11-13, what, 206. 

Darius Codomanus, the last king 
of Persia before Grecia, . 64; 
overthrow at Arbela, 331 B. C., 
65; his sad end, 65. 

Dura, the site of Nebuchadnez- 
zar's rival image, 92; dedica- 
tion of the image, 95; integ- 
rity of the three worthies, 99; 
Nebuchadnezzar's rage, id.; 
their deliverance, 100; Nebu- 
chadnezzar's conversion, 101. 

Daniel in the lions' den, 128-136 ; 
recognized by Paul as a true 
record, 129. 

Days, the 2300, why not ex- 
plained in Daniel 8, 232; ex- 
plained in chapter 9, 239-242; 
reach to cleansing of heavenly 
sanctuary, 228 ; termination 
of, 447. 



GENERAL INDEX 



897 



Dates of Christ's baptism and 

crucifixion, 304. 
Dan. 8:11; 11:31, and Rev. 13: 

2, parallel, 319. 
Daily taken away, how, 319. 
Decree of Justinian, 324, 325. 
Days, the 1290, 390; the 1335, 

391. 

Distinction between Christ and 

God, 406. 
Door opened in heaven, 463. 
Dragon, symbol, in one form, of 

Satan; in another, of Rome, 

626. 

De Tocqueville's testimony, 647. 
Dimensions of the holy city, 846. 

ENOCH, contemporary with 

Adam, 3. 
Ezra receives decree to restore 

Jerusalem, 254. 
Era, Christian, 258, note. 
Events of the year 508, a. d., 322. 
Exploits of saints, 329. 
Eastern question, what, 353. 
Ephesus, meaning- of, 424. 
Eye-salve, meaning- of, 455. 
Elders, four and twenty, who, 

465. 

Earthquake, the great, at Lisbon, 
495-501. 

Euphrates, symbolic, what, 775. 
Eminent reformers, 883. 

FAMOUS marches of Alexander, 
149. 

Four beasts, Daniel's vision of, 
139. 

Four heads of leopard, what, 149 ; 

arose when, id. 
France an atheistical power, 331 ; 

fulfils Dan. 11:36-40, 331-343; 

fulfils Rev. 11 : 7-13, 604-610. 
Franco-Prussian war, bearing on 

prophecy, 353. 
Five months of Rev. 9 : 10, where 

located, 574. 
Firearms prophesied of, 580, 

note. 

First settlements in America, 
654. 



Forever and ever, meaning of, 
758. 

GOD'S people preserve the 
world, 42. 

Grecia, the brass of the great im- 
age, 65 ; the leopard of Dan. 7 : 
6, 144; the goat of Dan. 8:5, 
147; comes into prophecy b. c. 
331, at battle of Arbela, 195; 
continues till league of Jews 
with the Romans, b. c. 161, 
seventy years, 202. 

Gabriel a prominent angel, 229; 
his glory, id. 

Genseric, the Vandal, 318. 

Glories of the stellar worlds, 376, 
377. 

Gold tried in the fire, explained, 
453. 

Glass, sea of, what, 467. 

Genseric, naval warfare of, 545, 
546; efforts of emperors Majo- 
rian and Leo against him fail, 
545, 546. 

Gov. Pownal's testimony, 646. - 

Geo. Alfred Townsend's testi- 
mony, 647. 

Great wonders originating in the 
IT. S., 662, 663. 

Gluttony rebuked, 808. 

HORN with eyes and mouth, a 
symbol of the papacy, 153, 
157-165. 

Horns, the three, plucked up be- 
fore little horn, 165-177. 

He-goat, as a symbol, explained, 
192. 

Horn, notable, of the goat, ex- 
plained, 195. 

Horns, four, of the goat, what, 
197. 

Horn, little, of Daniel 8, not a 
symbol of Antiochus Epipha- 
nes, 198 ; but a symbol of 
Rome, 202 ; how it came forth 
from one of the four horns of 
the goat, 202; accurately ful- 



898 



GENERAL INDEX 



filled by Home, 202-205; fur- 
ther explained, 231. 

How long to the end, 387, 388. 

Heraclius's bold enterprise, 563. 

Hailstorm, the final, 785. 

Heads, the seven, explained, 789. 

Heaven and earth flee away, how, 
833. 

INTERPRETATION, two sys- 
tems of, 4; Origen's mystical 
system, id. 

Image, great world-kingdom of 
Dan. 2:31, 44; adapted to 
Nebuchadnezzar's position, 47. 

Indignation, what, 230. 

Interpolation in Rev. 1 : 11, 419. 

Injustice in Switzerland, 696. 

JERUSALEM'S overthrow pre- 
dicted, 24; three times taken 
by Babylon, id. 

Judgment, investigative, 154. 

Justinian, papal decree, when es- 
tablished, 329. 

John, why banished, 412. 

Jews, who are, 429. 

Jezebel, who, 438. 

John Palaeologus, death of, 576. 

Judgment before second advent, 
722. 

KEEPING the commandments, 

what, 757. 
Key to movements in heaven, 

369. 

Knowledge, increase of, 379-385. 
Kingdom of Rev. 1 : 9, meaning 

of, 411. 
Key of David, what, 446. 
Kitchens in churches, 742. 

LAODICE put away by Antio- 
chus, recalled, poisons him, and 
seats her son on the throne, 
285. 

Last war against Babylon, 55. 
Legs of image do not signify 
eastern and western Rome, 76. 
Lion, a symbol of Babylon, 143. 
Leopard, a symbol of Grecia, 144. 



Life of fourth beast not pro- 
longed like that of the others, 
155. 

League between Jews and Ro- 
mans, 293, 305. 

Lot, meaning of, 393. 

Land divided for gain, 342. 

Lord's day, meaning of, 416, 421. 

Laodicea, meaning of, 450. 

Lamps of fire, the seven, what, 
467. 

Location of government symbol- 
ized by two-horned beast, 659. 

Last church not to perish, 696, 
697. 

Lake of fire repeated, 829. 
Life, book of, 835. 

MAGICIANS, etc., who, 34; 
their cunning, id.; issue of the 
struggle between them and 
Nebuchadnezzar, 35, 36; God's 
providence manifest in their 
overthrow, 39. 

Medo-Persia, the breast and arms 
of the great image, 63; how 
inferior to the head, id.; chief 
Scriptural event in its history, 
63; overthrew Babylon, b. c. 
538, and continued 207 years, 
144. 

Martyrs by the papacy, esti- 
mated, 178-183. 

Michael, who, 276, 367. 

Mithridates assists Caesar in 
Egypt, 296. 

Morning Star, the, who, 441. 

Moon darkened, 504. 

Momyllus, nicknamed Augustu- 
lus, last emperor of Rome, 552. 

Mohammedanism, rise of, 562. 

Mystery of God, what, 597. 

Mark of beast, what, 679; who 
have it? 679, 680. 

Mistake of Adventists in 1844, 
723. 

NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S wise 
policy, 28; commendable char- 
acter, 43; his humiliation and 
final decree, 103-113. 



GENERAL INDEX 



899 



Nabonadius, the last king of 

Babylon, 55. 
Nehemiah's grant not a decree, 

255. 

North, king of, who, 283, 343. 
Nicolaitanes, who, 425. 
Name, new, unknown 436. 
Nineveh, battle of, 563. 
National Keforrn movement, its 

aims, 690. 
"Number of his name," what, 

701. 

"ONCE in grace, always in 

grace," disproved, 444. 
Opening and shutting, meaning 
of, 446. 
Odoacer governs Italy, 557. 
Ottoman supremacy, fall of, 585. 
Our deeds all recorded, 834. 
Overturning of kingdom three 

times, 230. 

PEAYEE often heard before 

answers appear, 275. 
Prophecy, importance of, 4. 
Ptolemy, king of Egypt, fulfils 

Dan. 11 : 5, 284. 
Ptolemy Philadelphus fulfils 

Dan. 11 : 6, 284. 
Ptolemy Euergetes fulfils Dan. 

11 : 7-9, 285. 
Ptolemy Philopater fulfils Dan. 

11 : 11, 12, 287. 
Ptolemy Epiphanes supported by 

Eome, 291. 
Pompey takes Jerusalem, 293; 

quarrels with Caesar, 294; flees 

to Egypt and is murdered, 295. 
Ptolemy and Cleopatra placed 

under guardianship of Eome, 

294. 

Prince of the covenant, who, 304. 
Peter the Great, will of, 357. 
Patmos, description of, 412. 
Paradise withdrawn from the 

earth, 427; where, id. 
Pergamos, meaning of, 433. 
Philadelphia, signification o f , 

445. 



Paraphrase of 1 Cor. 15:24-28, 
461. 

Prophetic time, close of, 596. 
Persecuting powers, professedly 

Christian, 636. 
Pope Pius VI, death of, 642. 
Political changes in the world 

between 1817 and 1867, 648. 
Proclamation of Christ's coming, 

not given by the apostles or 

the Eeformers, 713; belongs to 

the present generation, 715 ; its 

extent, 719 - 721. 
Protestant church not true to its 

profession, 731. 
Plagues, seven last, poured out, 

767. 

Perdition of ungodly men, when, 
827; they never tread the new 
earth, 828. 

Punishment, degrees of, 834. 

Prominent martyrs, 880. 

EOME, the legs of iron, 69; the 
terrible beast, 150; the horn of 
Dan. 8, 202; the great red 
dragon, 619; the leopard beast, 
637 ; the scarlet beast, 789 ; suc- 
ceeds Grecia, 69; Gibbon's tes- 
timony, id.; interferes in be- 
half of Egypt, 294; fulfils 
Dan. 11: 14-35, 289; its divided 
state to continue to the end, 
81; a false application, 71-74; 
growth of, by legacies, 309. 

Earn, as a symbol, explained, 191. 

Eobbers of God's people, Eo- 
mans, Dan. 11:14, 290. 

Eeformation, the great, 330; 
prophecy of, 632. 

Eussia's defiance, 354; encroach- 
ments, 358. 

Eesurrection, a special, 371-374. 

Eeward of the righteous, 375. 

Eevelation, meaning of, 397; 
wrong title given to, 399 ; date 
of, 412; object of, 400; dedi- 
cated to whom, 403; to be un- 
derstood, 402. 

Eeading of Eev. 1 : 8, 411. 



900 



GENERAL INDEX 



Revelation 12, symbols explained, 
619. 

Religious declension of present 
day, 739-745. 

SACRED writings, characteris- 
tics of, 23. 

Successors of Nebuchadnezzar on 
throne of Babylon, 50, 55. 

"Seven times," of Dan. 4 : 16, lit- 
eral, not prophetic ; " seven 
times " of Leviticus 26, not a 
prophetic period, Appendix II, 
878. 

Startling events in papal history, 
187, note. 

Sanctuary, the, not the earth, 
209; not the land of Canaan, 
210; not the church, 212; it is, 
first, the tabernacle of Moses, 
expanded later into the tem- 
ple at Jerusalem, 213 ; sec- 
ondly, the sanctuary in heaven, 
219; how cleansed, 222-227; 
importance of the subject, 227, 
268; in heaven, size and mag- 
nificence of, 477. 

Stand up, meaning of, 279. 

South, king of the, who, 283, 343. 

Seleucus, king of Syria, fulfils 
Dan. 11 : 5, 284. 

Seleucus Callinicus plundered by 
Ptolemy, 286; died in exile, 
286. 

Seleucus Ceraunus and Antio- 
chus Magnus fulfil Dan. 11 : 
10, 287. 

Scopas defeated by Antiochus, 
292. 

Syria made a Roman province, 
293. 

Siege of Jerusalem bv Titus, 315, 
316; fulfilled Deut. 28:53, id. 

Shrinkage of Turkish territory, 
363. 

Seven Spirits, who, 405. 

Spirit, to be in the, meaning of 
the expression, 415. 

Sabbath exists in this dispensa- 
tion as Lord's clay, 418. 

Smyrna, meaning of, 433. 



Sardis, meaning of, 442. 
Seals, the seven, explained, 481- 
519. 

Souls under the altar, who and 
where, 490. 

Sun darkened, 501-504. 

Stars, falling of, 507-510. 

Signs in sun, moon, and stars, 
objections answered, 511-516. 

Seal of God, what, 522-527. 

Silence in heaven, why, 537. 

Saracens and Turks, 561. 

Spiritualism, its place in proph- 
ecy, 663. 

Sabbath, by whom changed, 679. 

Seventh-day Adventists, papers 
and books, 751; conferences 
and missions, 752; how this 
work is fulfilling the third mes- 
sage, 754. 

Summary of Sabbath arguments, 
755. 

Smoke going up forever, 814. 
Saints reign with Christ, 825. 

THE word "king" used for 
"kingdom," 63. 

Toes of the image same as horns 
of the beast, 75. 

Ten horns represent the ten king- 
doms which arose out of the 
old Roman empire, 76. 

The ten kingdoms still in exist- 
ence in modern empires, 88. 

The ten kingdoms, enumeration 
of, 150, and Appendix III, 879. 

Thrones cast down, should be 
rendered "set up," 153. 

Third part, refers to the divisions 
of Rome, 542, 543. 

Titles assumed by the popes, 177. 

Time, times, and a half, 184. 

The judgment set, when, 186. 

Testimony of Adventists, 249. 

Time in Dan. 11 : 24, how reck- 
oned, 309. 

Triumvirate, who, 309. 

Two returnings," Dan. 11 : 28, 
what, and when, 315. 

Tripartite division of Rome, 317. 

Time of papal oppression, 329. 



GENERAL INDEX 



901 



Time of the ena, when, 330. 

Turkey declares war against 
France, 345; fulfils Dan. 11: 
40-44, 346-350. 

Turkey's future, 351-365. 

Turko-Russian war, 360. 

Time of Dan. 12 : 1, 366. 

Titles of Christ, 406, 407. 

They which pierced him, who, 
409; how these who died so 
long ago, see Christ at his sec- 
ond advent, 410. 

Thyatira, meaning of, 437. 

Two thrones occupied by Christ, 
460. 

Twelve tribes of Israel under the 
gospel, who, 531. 

The 144,000, who, 532, 707; in- 
clude all who die under third 
message, 760, note. 

Trumpets, the seven, exposition 
of, 539-558. 

Theodoric, the Ostrogoth, 553. 

The open book, 588. 

Two-horned beast symbol of 
America, 646. 

The coming crisis, 680. 

The Constitution violated, 692. 

The danger threatened, 696. 

Ten virgins, parable of, 717, 724. 

The three messages cumulative, 
746. 

The relative " which " in Rev. 

20:4, 826. 
Two general resurrections, 826. 
The sea no more, 838. 
The Father's house, 839. 
Tree of life illustrated, 856. 
The general invitation, 863. 
The French Revolution and our 

own times, Appendix I, 871. 



UNTIL, singular use of the 
word, 32, explains use in Matt. 
5: 18. 

Universal empire, meaning of, 
50. 

VISION, wonderful channel of, 

278, 399. 
Vision of Daniel 10, date of, 

207. 

Voice of the great words which 
the horn spake, 155; gives the 
beast to the burning flame, id. 

Yeni, vidi, vici, the occasion 
when written, 299. 

WHSTDS and sea as symbols, ex- 
plained, 140. 

Weeks, the seventy, part of the 
2300 days, 245; when to be- 
gin, 250; intermediate dates, 
256 - 262 ; their termination, 
250; genuineness of the read- 
ing, 2300 days, 264. 

War between France, Egypt, and 
Turkey, 343. 

White stone, custom of, 436. 

Word of Christ's patience, what, 
447. 

White raiment, meaning of, 455. 
Winds, holding of, fulfilled, 529. 
Witnesses, the two, who, 501-611. 
War in heaven, when, 625. 
Wound, deadly, healed, 641. 
"We grew into empire," 653. 
Wine of Babylon, what, 734. 
Waters,, symbolic meaning of, 
791. 

XERXES, his mighty army, 280. 
TEAR-DAY principle, 253, note. 



LB Q 14 



